Light from the Shadows
by skyisthelimit
Summary: "You've gotta be kidding me," Joey groaned, "We have to save the world...again!" Eternal rest is unfortunately still just out of reach for Atem. He must recover the final piece of the Puzzle, and his memories, before he can return to the afterlife. But how can he tell what's real and what's false? And why do this girl's stormy eyes seem so familiar? AtemxOC
1. Not Done Yet

_Chapter 1: Not Done Yet_

"Now, tell the Eye of Wdjat your name." As usual, Ishizu's words had an air of prophecy around them.

 _This is it_. Yugi braced himself, tears silently running down his cheeks. He did his best to draw on his courage, the courage that the Pharaoh himself had taught him. But it was hard. He was about to lose someone who had been more than a friend, closer than a brother. The person who had been with him through his most difficult trials. His other self.

Yugi watched as the Pharaoh stood in front of the gold carving, his stance strong. The Eye began to glow, and their friends watched wide-eyed with disbelief. Yugi could read their thoughts on their faces. They couldn't believe this was happening, that after their long journey that somehow seemed like the shortest of times, they would be separated.

When the Pharaoh opened his lips to speak, power seemed to reverberate under his deep voice and radiate from his entire being. "I am the son of King Aknamkanon. My name is…Atem!"

More light began to break through as the Eye of Wdjat was split down the center. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the door to open. The room began to rumble and then…

…Stopped. The Eye and the light behind it suddenly dimmed until it was extinguished, for all the world looking once again like a normal stone carving.

There was a heavy silence that no one seemed eager to break, as if waiting to see if something would start happening again.

"…Well that was anti-climatic," Seto Kaiba finally grumbled.

"Uh… I know I'm sometimes slow on the uptake, but I was pretty sure that door was supposed to open," Joey Wheeler remarked.

Yugi stared at the Pharaoh, just as bewildered. He had beaten him, hadn't he? According to Ishizu, that meant the door to the afterlife would open, so that the Pharaoh could finally rest in peace. He gazed at the familiar visage, his own emotions in conflict. The Pharaoh's eyes were wide in disbelief, but there was something else. Yugi couldn't put his finger on it, but something was different about his old friend.

"I…don't understand," said the Pharaoh.

Marik looked over at his sibling. "Sister, what happened?"

"I—I'm not sure—"

"Pharaoh, look!" Yugi suddenly exclaimed, realizing what had changed. "Your skin!"

"My skin?" The former King looked down at his hands, and gasped. His skin, previously pale like Yugi's, was now the olive tone it had been during his life in Ancient Egypt. He turned around to face his friends, still staring down, wondering if it was just a trick of light.

"Woah," Tristan breathed, "Yugi's right. Pharaoh, you look just like you did in your memories."

"What is going on?" the former spirit wondered. He looked over at Yugi, who was still on the platform with him.

"I don't know," his partner responded, "I—"

" _My king,_ " a new voice interrupted them. All eyes whipped back to the Eye of Wdjat, where there was now a transparent spirit kneeling in front of it.

The Pharaoh's eyes widened, "Mahad?!"

Mahad remained on bended knee, his head bowed in deference. " _I apologize my king. While your family and court are eager to welcome you back to the afterlife, I am afraid you cannot return yet._ "

"What do you mean? We have collected the three Egyptian God cards, and the seven Millennium Items. I was defeated in the Ceremonial Duel. We have fulfilled all the requirements to open the door to the afterlife. Why does the Eye of Wdjat not open?"

" _Because one of the items is not complete._ "

"What? Which one?" Yugi exclaimed.

" _The same item you resided in for thousands of years, my Pharaoh. The Millennium Puzzle._ " The priest's spirit gazed solemnly at his once best friend.

" _What!?_ " several voices exclaimed. Of all the possible items, that was the one they least expected.

"Are you sure about that?" Joey said skeptically, "'Cuz it's always looked pretty complete to me."

Normally, Tea and Tristan were the first to point out the idiocy in Joey's words, but this time they couldn't help but agree. "But Yugi completed the puzzle," Tea insisted, "The Pharaoh's spirit wouldn't have appeared if he didn't."

" _My king, you must discover where this piece is and reunite it with the Puzzle before you can return to the afterlife._ "

"So then, was this whole ceremony or ritual for nothing?" Yugi asked, coming over to stand next to his partner. "And why does the Pharaoh look like he did when he was alive?"

" _Of course it was not for nothing, Chosen One,_ " Mahad reassured him, _"You two proved to each other, and to the gods themselves, how much you have learned from one another. As a reward, and in order for the Pharaoh to complete his final mission, the gods have granted you both your independence, by restoring the Pharaoh's own body._ "

"But Mahad, I don't even understand what you mean by my final mission. The Puzzle has no incomplete spaces," the Pharaoh looked over to Yugi in confirmation, who nodded.

" _You must discover what this piece is yourself. All I can tell you is that finding it is pivotal, for there is one more great evil you must face with it._ "

" _Another_ great evil?" Yugi exclaimed, "But we prevented the Shadow games from coming back. We defeated Zorc! What else could there be?"

" _An evil that manifested after you sacrificed yourself, King. However, once again, you are the only one with the power to vanquish it completely. So a powerful, brave soul, one you knew very well, used her own name and memories to seal it until you could face it in the future as well. This person will also be key in defeating this evil._ "

"This person is in the future as well?" the Pharaoh questioned.

" _Yes, and you must find her, and your memories of her."_

"But I've recovered all my memories. I've unsealed my name!"

" _You have not recovered them all. In using the puzzle to seal this new evil, she was forced to sacrifice your memories of her as well. You must restore both her own and yours."_

"But where do I find her? If I do not remember her, and she does not remember me, how will I know who this person is?"

" _I am sorry, my King. That is all I am at liberty to say. Good luck._ " Mahad's spirit began to grow even more transparent.

"Mahad, wait!" the Pharoah cried out, hundreds of questions still bubbling at his lips. But it was too late. The spirit of the priest was gone. All remaining traces of magic fell dormant, and the room was once again left in silence as everyone processed the new information.

Joey was the first one break it this time. "You've gotta be kidding me. We have to save the world, _again_?"

* * *

As magnificent an aircraft the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet was, ten people would have been a…cramped fit. So Kaiba kindly ordered a private jet to come pick the group up to take them back to Domino city. (Well, in reality, he was going to just leave them behind, but Mokuba managed to convince him to give the group a ride). He and Mokuba still took the dragon-like jet home though.

"Damn. I'll never cease to be amazed by the lap of luxury the Kaiba's live in," Duke remarked, settling into his plush seat.

"That's rich, coming from you. Pun intended," Tristan said flatly.

As an argument predictably grew in their corner of the plane, Joey somehow getting pulled in as well, Tea went over to Yugi and the Pharaoh. Honestly, it was still pretty disconcerting to see them in separate bodies. They both appeared to be deep in thought, having been mostly silent since the events in front of the Eye of Wdjat.

"So, you two, what do you think happens next?" Tea asked, jolting them both out of their reveries.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," the Pharaoh admitted. "We have so little to go on."

"Did you ever suspect that your Puzzle was incomplete?" she glanced at the Millennium item hanging around his neck. They had left the rest of the ancient artefacts in the stone, with the Ishtars promising once again to guard them until it was truly time for the Egyptian King to pass. While the Puzzle definitely belonged to the Pharaoh, it was still odd not seeing it around Yugi's neck.

"No, not before. But now…I do feel like there is something missing. I'm not sure if that's just my imagination though. If anything, it does not feel as if the Puzzle is incomplete, but more like _I'm_ incomplete," he remarked, lifting the pendant speculatively.

"Well," Yugi said, "That might just be you adjusting to, well, being alive again."

"Yes, I certainly am still adjusting to that," the Pharaoh admitted, taking a deep breath and placing a hand over his heart in agreement. "It seems so strange. I'm used to experiencing things through Yugi, but this feels different."

"Well, I for one am glad you get this chance," Yugi said happily, "Not that I didn't like housing your spirit, but if anyone deserves to live again, it's you, Phar- I mean, Atem."

The former spirit looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Yugi shrugged, "It's your name, the name you worked so hard to discover. I think it's time you start using it, don't you? It's not like it needs to be a secret anymore. And I told you I'd eventually start getting used to using it."

Atem smiled. "I suppose you're right."

Yugi raised his fist encouragingly, "And just like we always do, we'll figure out what comes next together."

Atem nodded, "Right, partner."

Tea smiled as well. Somehow, she knew everything was going to be alright.

* * *

When they got back to Grandpa's store, there was a package already waiting for them.

"It's not from Pegasus again, is it?" Joey complained, "I mean, I get we have to do the whole save-the-world thing again, but can't we get a _small_ vacation?"

Yugi stared at the return address. "No, it's from Kaiba."

"Kaiba? The little bastard must have beaten us back. Why didn't he just wait for us then?"

Tristan looked over Yugi's shoulder to regard the package as well. It was a fairly thick manila envelope, sure enough with the KaibaCorp logo in the corner. "Well, go ahead and open it, Yugi. It must be something important – practical jokes aren't really Kaiba's style."

"Humor in general isn't Kaiba's style," grumbled Joey.

Yugi ripped open the envelope and pulled out the contents. To his surprise, there was a birth certificate, passport, and even a driver's license. All were labeled with the name "Atem Muto" and even had a picture of the former Pharaoh. There was also a note. "It's addressed to you, Atem," Yugi observed.

Atem raised his brow. "Me?" He took the note and read it aloud.

 _Atem, Pharaoh, whatever you go by now,_

 _I took the liberty of having an identity made for you, since it unfortunately seems like you're going to be sticking around for a while. Don't get any wrong ideas – I only did this because if someone discovered that you 'think' you're an ancient spirit from five thousand years ago, and somehow manages to find evidence that I'm involved with your crazy delusions, KaibaCorp would take a hit._

 _Your welcome. But you owe me a duel._

 _SK_

"That Kaiba. Even when he's doing something nice, he sounds like a jerk," Joey huffed.

"Wow, that really _was_ nice of Kaiba, though," Yugi remarked. "Hey, Atem, now you can register for school with us!"

Atem blinked. "…School?"

"Yeah, the birthday Kaiba made up for you is the same as mine. I suppose it's so we can tell everyone we're twins," Yugi said, reading the documents.

"Twins?" the former Pharaoh seemed slightly bemused.

"Well we look a little too much alike to be anything else I think. We can tell people you've been spending the last several years studying in Egypt to explain your skin tone."

"Hm…"

"And of course," Solomon added, "You'll be staying with us anyway. Might as well make your addition to the family official." He smiled welcomingly, and Atem couldn't help but color slightly, touched and embarrassed.

"AH!" Tea blurted, making everyone in the room jump, "Wait speaking of birthdays, guys, look at the date! It's Yugi's birthday! Well, the Pha-Atem's too, now, I suppose!"

"How fitting," Bakura couldn't help but comment with a smile.

"Wow, our little buddy is turning 17, and our ancient spirit was born again, all on the same day!" Joey exclaimed, slinging his arms over both of his friends. "This definitely calls for a celebration!"

"Let's go shopping for supplies!" Tea suggested, already putting her jacket back on.

"Wait, guys, this really isn't necessary," Yugi tried to say, Atem nodding in agreement, both looking embarrassed at the attention.

"Oh, yes, it is. After that long flight, I'm STARVING. Tristan and I will take care of the food!" Joey declared, grabbing his friend.

"Don't eat it before you get back!" Tea called out warningly, making the two flinch briefly before heading out the door. Turning to Solomon, she said, "Mr. Muto, would you come with me to get a cake?"

"Sure, Tea," Yugi's grandfather happily agreed.

"Guys…" Yugi tried to interject again. He was ignored.

"I guess Bakura and I will get some decorations then," Duke offered, as they all made their way to the exit. And with that, suddenly Yugi and his new 'brother' were left alone in the shop.

"Uh…okay then," Yugi laughed sheepishly. "I would apologize, but they're your friends too." He smiled at Atem.

"Yes, and I have you to thank for that," Atem had a smile of his own.

"I have to confess," Yugi said as he lifted one of his bags onto the counter. "I know we have a lot of difficulties to face still, but I can't help but be a little glad for them. Because it means you get to stay a little longer. I feel like since you've just gotten your memories back, we're still getting to know each other. I don't think I was ready to say goodbye after that duel." He pulled out his deck, staring contemplatively at his cards. "I still can't believe I beat you."

"I understand, and it feels wrong for me to admit it, but I'm happy too," Atem agreed. "And of course you beat me. You've grown so much. I'm very proud."

Yugi grinned happily, before returning his attention to his cards. "So, with new challenges to face, you and I will both being needing our own decks, I think. Of course, we already picked out one set for that ceremonial duel, but I think we should divvy the rest too."

Atem agreed to the plan, and the two of them spread out the cards they were both so familiar with on to the counter next to the cash register.

That's when they heard the door opening. "Wow," a voice said, "Look at all the cards."

Yugi and Atem both looked up in surprise. It was a girl, slightly younger than Yugi in age, with dark hair and storm grey eyes. She saw them by the counter and her eyes lit in recognition.

"Hey, I know you!"

* * *

"Hmm, well we know what flavors Yugi likes, but what about the Ph- I mean, Atem?" Tea mused as she glanced over the cake displays.

"Has he ever had cake before?" Solomon voiced skeptically.

"Now that you've mentioned it, I haven't seen him eat much in general. Even when, er," Tea fumbled her words, stopping herself from mentioning the time Yugi's soul was taken and it was only Yami inhabiting the body. She wasn't sure if Yugi's grandfather knew about that. "Even when he was the one in control, he mostly ate mild foods, although our choices were pretty limited."

"Then I think simple would be best. They didn't have that extravagant flavors in Ancient Egypt either," Solomon mused.

"I guess that makes sense." As they placed their cake orders, Tea made small talk. "It was nice of you, to offer your home to Atem so easily. Especially since all this was such a surprise."

The elder Muto chuckled, "Well, he's essentially been living with us anyway. It's just that now, I can put him to work."

Tea laughed, trying to imagine the regal Pharaoh she had come to think of Atem as sweeping in front of the store.

More seriously he added, "I'm glad that Yugi will be able to spend more time with him. And I am grateful to him. He's given and taught Yugi a lot – my boy has grown up so much because of Atem."

Tea nodded in agreement, "I'm grateful to Atem too." She thought back to when Yugi ended up telling them that he had wished for friends upon the completion of the Puzzle, and she couldn't help but admit that if it weren't for Atem and the Millennium Puzzle, she and her friends would not be anywhere as close as they were now.

 _I hope he feels the same way. And I hope we can help him find whatever he's missing now, too._

* * *

"Hey, I know you!"

Yugi and Atem could only stare in surprise as the girl suddenly approached them. "You're Yugi Muto, the King of Games! I didn't realize you owned a game store…wait aren't you a bit young to have your own business?" Her storm grey eyes looked at him skeptically.

That seemed to break Yugi out of his blank shock. "Ah, no, I mean. This isn't my shop – it's my grandpa's."

"Oh, that makes more sense," the girl laughed. "Sorry if I was a little forward. I just moved here. I knew that the King of Games lived in this city, but I didn't expect to meet him so quickly." Her gaze finally shifted to Atem, whom she regarded with shock. "Wait, there are two of you?"

Atem didn't respond, but his eyes bored into her, and he could see he was making her slightly uncomfortable. But he couldn't help it. There was something about those eyes that seemed familiar…

"Uh, this is my twin brother, Atem," Yugi intervened, breaking the awkward silence. "He also just moved back to the city. He's been in Egypt for a while."

Grey eyes blinked, breaking the connection. "Oh, I see. Um, it's nice to meet you?" She offered a hand, but once again Atem did not seem to be aware of what was going on. Confused, she offered it to Yugi instead. "My name is Sarra."

Yugi took the offered hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you, Sarra, and welcome to Domino city. But, um, I'm really sorry but the shop is actually closed right now. My family and I just got back from a trip."

Sarra blinked. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I was just looking around to see what kind of cards I could find in this city. When I came across this store and saw people inside, I just assumed…"

"It's not your fault," Yugi said kindly, "We should have locked the door. So you're a duelist, I'm assuming."

"Sorry again," she said sheepishly. "And yes, I am. Maybe sometime later we could duel? Does your brother duel?" She glanced at the still silent figure.

Yugi looked over at Atem with concern. He was still acting spaced out, making Yugi furrow his brow.

"I'm sorry about him. He's just really tired from his flight," he attempted to explain. "And, uh, yes, he does. We'd be happy to duel you sometime, for sure."

"Great," Sarra grinned. "Well, I'll get out of your hair. I hope it's okay I come back another time, though. I definitely want to check out your card selection here."

"Of course, it is," Yugi reassured her.

She nodded in thanks, but her eyes couldn't help but flit across the cards strewn out on the counter top. "Wow, you have 'Light of the Goddess'*? I've been looking for that card everywhere."

"Why don't you take it, then," Atem suddenly, _finally_ , spoke, making both the girl and Yugi jump a little.

She regarded him with wide-eyed surprise. "Wait really? Are you sure?" disbelief coloring her tone.

Atem picked it up and offered it to her. "Think of it as a gift to welcome you to your new home. And as an apology for being so rude earlier," he explained.

"Um…if you're sure," she reached for it hesitantly, almost as if she expected him to retract the offer at any second.

Finally, she took the card and regarded it with wonder. "Wow, I mean…" she looked up and smiled, "Thank you!"

He nodded mutely, once again struck by the familiarity of her eyes, "You're welcome."

She thanked them both again, and left, promising to come back when the store was actually open.

Yugi rounded on his old companion as soon as the door shut. "What was that about?"

"I hope you didn't mind that I gave the card to her," Atem said, ignoring the initial question.

"Of course, not. We've never used it anyway. But I'll ask again, what was that about?"

Atem hesitated, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into the right words. "There was something…familiar about her."

"Oh?" Yugi's voice was surprised, "Do you think that's the girl we're supposed to be looking for? That would be surprisingly convenient."

Atem furrowed his brows further. "I don't know…She was also...different. Not exactly familiar."

"Wait, what?" Yugi was, understandably, very confused. "You just said she was familiar."

"Her eyes, they were very familiar. But…not quite the same either. I'm not sure."

"Well, that's helpful," he sighed.

* * *

"Sis, sis!" Sarra practically burst into the room, panting. Ana watched her younger sister in surprise as she attempted to catch her breath. "I…got it! And I met… _him!_ And, and… _brother!_ He…has one! And I got…the card! I got the card!"

Laughing, the older girl led Sarra over to the couch. "Sarra, calm down. _Breathe_. Here, drink. Geez did you run all the way here?" She handed her a glass of water.

Taking a large gulp, Sarra finally got her breathing under control. "Maybe," she responded.

Ana shook her head in exasperation. "Now, try again. What were you going on about?"

"I met him! Yugi Muto! The King of Games!"

Ana blinked. "Wow, really? Who would have thought you'd meet him so soon. We've only just moved here."

"I know right! His family owns a Game Shop, and it was just by chance I decided to check it out! And get this, Ana. He has a brother! A _twin_ brother!"

Ana's brow furrowed in confusion. "A twin? But, why haven't we ever heard of him before? Is he not a duelist?"

"He is! And look, he gave me _this!_ " she pulled out a card from her pocket. "This is the card you've been looking for, isn't it, big sis? 'Light of the Goddess.'"

" _What?!"_ Ana stared at the card, the card she had been searching for with a desperation that she never really understood, with disbelief. "He just… _gave_ it to you?"

"Yeah," Sarra nodded with a giggle. "He said it was a welcome present."

Despite her shock that this card practically fell into her sister's lap, she didn't overlook the blush that lightly dusted her sister's face. She arched a brow. "Oh? Was he a cute?"

" _Ana!_ " Sarra huffed, her cheeks becoming even redder. "Don't tease me! Or I won't give this to you!"

Surprises coming from all sides today. "You're…giving this card to me? Are you sure, Sarra? It's a pretty rare card."

Sarra took her sister's hand and squeezed. "Of course, I'm giving it to you. I know how hard you've been looking for this. I never really understood why, but I know it's important to you." She smiled up at Ana. "Besides, it's your birthday, isn't it? And I can't think of a better present." She held the card up to her.

Ana's vision shimmered through a layer of tears as she took it. Tugging Sarra into a tight embrace, she whispered, "Thank you, little sis."

Returning the hug, Sarra chirped, "Happy Birthday, Ana."

Still holding her sister, Ana gazed at the card in her hand. Storm grey eyes, almost the same color as her sister's, glimmered with emotion. _I finally found it. And now, maybe I can find_ him _too._

* * *

 **A/N** : So, it's funny what procrastination can do to you. It can revive your interest in an old show you haven't thought about in a _decade_. Like wow. I never expected this.

But I've always loved the YuGiOh DM series, and I've always LOVED Atem. Mm, one of my earliest anime crushes. Like, that voice? That sun-kissed skin tone? He always gets the best lines and scenes too. Seriously, even as an adult my crush and lust are strong….I've probably said too much haha.

The thing is, I never really shipped him with any of the canon characters though. So this is my first time constructing an OC purely for a pairing.

By the way, I'll freely admit, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to flesh out any duels. Fair warning.

*I'm doing my best to use real cards, but 'Light of the Goddess' is a made-up card, because it serves a specific purpose to my plot, if that wasn't obvious.

Hope you enjoy the story! Please review if you did!


	2. First Impressions

Chapter 2: First Impressions

 _A comforting warmth settled around her neck. She sighed as a feeling of safety, comfort, and security washed over her entire being. Looking down, she lightly touched the pendant now resting against her breast._

" _With this, we'll always be connected," a deep voice whispered in her ear, sending shivers up her spine. Quickly, she turned to try and catch a glimpse of who it was, but no one was there. Instead, a gold object shattered into millions of pieces._

 _A hole yawned through her. She felt as if_ she _were being shattered._

" _No…" she cried, clutching her chest. Suddenly, the ground crumbled underneath her. Her stomach lurched as she began to free fall into the shadows._

" _It's futile…" another voice whispered, raking pain across her senses._

 _She screamed._

Ana shot up in bed, panting, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. She rested a hand on her chest, attempting to slow her pounding heart. _That was…different_.

Shakily, she got out of bed and made her way over to her desk. Opening the box in which she kept all her duel cards, she picked up her newest one.

'Light of the Goddess', the card she had been searching for for years. On it was a painting of a necklace, the _same_ necklace that she wore in her dream. A beautiful gold piece, with a pendant in the shape of a phoenix wrapped around a gold heart.

For the past couple of years, Ana had been seeing that dream almost constantly, just like tonight. Except, this one was different. Usually her dream ended after watching whatever that thing was shatter into pieces. Never had she felt _pain_ in the dream before. Was that even possible in a dream?

Her temples began to throb. Sighing, she put the card back with her deck. Heading for the kitchen with the intent of getting a glass of water, she tried to put the anxiety and fear the nightmare had inspired in her out of her mind. She had other things to worry about. Namely, the fact that school started tomorrow.

* * *

"Well, your registration is all done, now, Atem," the school secretary declared, shuffling a stack of papers in front of her. "Welcome to Domino City High! Here's a list of materials you'll need, though I'm sure you'll be able to share with your brother for today."

"Um, thank you," Atem took the paper and looked hesitantly at Yugi and his grandfather, who were smiling at him.

"Now run along! You too Yugi. I believe first period starts soon, does it not?" she told them, shooing them out of the office.

"Yep! Thanks Ms. Hart!" Yugi cheerfully chirped back.

"Well, now that that's all settled, I'd best be getting back to the shop," Solomon said, "You have fun at school, Atem."

"Uh, sure," honestly, Atem had mixed feelings about attending school. He understood the importance of learning and knowledge, but he was supposed to be searching for the missing piece of the Puzzle so that he could return to the afterlife. Also, being born 5,000 years ago, he was pretty sure he was fairly behind in the curriculum. He doubted his previous lessons on harvest cycles and ancient scriptures would help him now. When he had been residing in Yugi, he had tended to retreat into the Puzzle while Yugi was in class. However, it wasn't like he could try and argue himself out of going to school without seeming immature and ungrateful.

"Come on, Atem! Ms. Hart was nice enough to put you in my class, so follow me." Yugi started to lead him down the hall. As they walked, Atem couldn't help but notice the stares they were getting from the other students around them. He supposed it was because of the novelty of Yugi suddenly having a 'twin.'

When they reached the classroom, they were greeted by Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Duke, who were all in the same class as well, it seemed. Even Kaiba was brooding in the corner, although he briefly looked up when the Muto's walked in. His friends led him to an empty desk next to Yugi's, where he sat down hesitantly and waited for class to start.

"Don't worry Ph- Atem," Joey told him, slapping his back, "School's a piece of cake."

"Oh really? Why don't you show us your grades, then, Joey," Tristan teased, earning a scowl from his friend.

"Well, at least it should be a breeze compared to running a kingdom, right?" Duke remarked, flipping his hair.

Yugi shushed him, "Duke, you don't want people overhearing you."

"Sorry."

"Well, we're all here for you in whatever case," Tea told the former spirit.

"Thank you, everyone," Atem said, giving them a small smile, "But I'm sure I'll be fine."

With that, the teacher walked in, forcing everyone to go back to their seats. Atem took a cursory glance around the room, taking in everything. Now that everyone was sitting down, he could see a long waterfall of raven hair a few seats away from him. He wasn't sure why, but his eyes were drawn to the figure.

"Alright, welcome back everyone," the teacher said, reclaiming his attention. "Before we get started, we have two new students in our class today."

 _Two?_ Atem wondered, before realizing what was probably going to happen next.

"First, Atem Muto, why don't you stand up and introduce yourself to everyone," the teacher beckoned.

He stood up, taking in everyone's stares. He was starting to get a sense of déjà vu. This wasn't unlike that time when he had first landed in his Memory World, just in time for his coronation.

"Uh…hi."

Nope, not unlike that time at all. This time, though, he could see Joey and Tristan hiding a snicker.

"Come on, tell us a little about yourself," the teacher chuckled, "For example, I'm sure everyone's wondering about your uncanny resemblance to another student in this class."

He blinked. "Oh, right. Um, my name is Atem," it was still a little strange introducing himself as such, but it felt nice, "and I'm Yugi's brother. I've just come back from spending a while in Egypt. Nice to meet everyone?" he couldn't help the last part coming out like a question.

"That's better. You can sit back down."

He did so, gratefully.

"And now, Ana Schuyler, could you stand and introduce yourself to everyone as well?"

To his surprise, the girl with the long dark hair he had noticed earlier stood up. Since she was closer to the front, she turned around to bow to everyone. "My name is Ana. I've just moved here from America. It's nice to meet everyone." When she straightened, Atem's eyes widened in shock.

Storm grey eyes seem to look directly at him. The same grey as that girl in the store the other day. Except this time, the chimes of familiarity rang even stronger.

She was definitely older than Sarra, with more delicate facial features. Her raven hair fell in a silky curtain down her back, and her bangs parted to the side framed a heart shaped face. He had never seen her before, and yet it felt like he had. Grey and amethyst eyes continued to stare at each other for what seemed like forever.

In reality, though, after a few seconds, the girl turned back around and sat down, allowing the teacher to begin the lesson.

Unfortunately, Atem wasn't paying one ounce of attention. _Who is she? Could she be the person we're supposed to be looking for? How do I even find out?_

* * *

Ana tapped her eraser absentmindedly against the desk as the lesson droned on. Yawning, she glanced at the clock. Ten minutes until lunch, thank god. Normally she'd be a bit more diligent about taking notes, but this was an English lesson. As someone who grew up in the US, Ana quickly realized that it was actually better to not pay attention to anything the teacher was saying, so as to prevent the urge for her to correct every little thing.

Casting her eyes around the room, her lips twitched as she took in the state of the class. A handful of students were still dutifully taking notes, but it being so close to the lunch hour, the majority were either antsy for the break, day dreaming, or flat out sleeping. She was pretty sure the blond behind her was snoring.

Since she was propping her head on a hand on her desk, she could look behind her a bit. She couldn't help but let her gaze wander to the King of Game's 'brother'. She had recognized him immediately of course – the hair was pretty distinctive. He wasn't taking notes, but his gaze was far from unfocused. In fact, they were focused on her.

Flinching slightly when their eyes met, she quickly turned back around. Was he staring at her?Maybe he was just staring at her direction to the board. Looking up, though, she saw the board in that line of sight was blank. _No, he was definitely staring at me. Maybe I remind him of someone?_

 _Oh!_ She realized what was probably going on. Many people would often comment on how similar she looked to her sister. He probably was wondering if she and the girl he had given a card to were related.

 _I should probably thank him during lunch._ Decision made, she tried to let her thoughts wander again. However, for the remaining ten minutes, she couldn't shake the feeling of that strong gaze on the back of her head.

The bell finally rang, and immediately students were up and about, either leaving to buy their lunches or gathering around their friends' desks. She stood up and approached the twins and their friends. The brothers were murmuring to each other, it appeared, but Atem's gaze was still fixed on her.

She smiled, trying to dispel the awkward air that settled on the group as they fell silent when they noticed her presence. "Um, hi. Sorry, to interrupt you all, but I just wanted to thank you for the other day." She aimed her words at the taller brother.

He blinked in surprise.

"For giving away that card," she clarified. "That girl you met yesterday? That was my younger sister, Sarra."

"Oh," Yugi exclaimed, "Wow, yes I can see the resemblance."

Ana smirked. "I could say the same to you," she noted, causing him to rub the back of his head sheepishly. "See, she actually wanted that card for me. I've be looking for it for a while," she continued to explain. "So, it's nice to meet you," she smiled at Atem, and offered a hand, "and thank you for your card."

He looked like he was still processing things, but reached out to take the proffered hand. When their fingers touched, they both jumped slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well," he said hesitantly. The back of her mind itched, as if she was supposed to make a connection to that deep voice, but she chalked that up to the weird jolt she felt earlier, and ignored it.

"So you were the one who wanted 'Light of the Goddess'?" Yugi asked.

She nodded. "It goes really well with my deck," she said. No way she was going to explain her weird dreams to people she just met. "But it's a really rare card, so I was having trouble tracking one down."

"So I guess that means you're a duelist, huh?" their blond friend interjected with his accented voice.

"No shit, Sherlock," a boy with fancily styled dark hair deadpanned.

"Can it, pretty boy. Alright, then Ana, I challenge you to a duel!" he pointed an accusatory finger at her. She blinked at it, taken aback. _I guess the friends of the King of Games is really into dueling?_

Thankfully, before she could make a response, the only girl in the group dug a fist into the blonde's skull. "Don't be rude, Joey," turning to her apologetically, the girl said, "Sorry about that. He's a knucklehead. What he means is 'his name is Joey, and he thinks it's nice to me you, too.' And I'm Tea."

The rest of the group introduced themselves as well, since they all already knew her name. "It's nice to meet all of you," she smiled, "Thank you again, Atem. I guess I'll see you all later." She started to turn to go back to her desk.

"Wait, Ana," Yugi stopped her, "Why don't you join us for lunch? We were going to head to the roof. It's a nice day."

Ana looked back him in surprise. They had seemed like a close-knit group, so she wasn't expecting an invitation. But they were all smiling at her welcomingly. Well except for Atem, who was again just staring at her. _Okay, what's his problem, anyway?_

Finding no reason to say no other than that, she agreed easily. She hadn't expected to make friends so quickly at this new school, but it was a pleasant surprise.

* * *

On their way up to the roof, Yugi nudged Atem with his elbow. They had fallen to the back of the group. Joey was still trying to get Ana to agree to a duel later. "You have to stop staring at her. You're going to creep her out," he told his 'brother'.

Jerking, Atem glanced guiltily back at him. "I know. It's just…"

"I know you feel like she's really familiar. That probably does mean she's the one we're looking for. But how can you know for sure if you don't get to know her? That means you have to actually _talk_ to her," Yugi grinned, "I know you're out of practice, but that shouldn't stop you, right? Or did you not talk to _any_ girls in Egypt?"

Atem glared, "You're one to talk. How's it going with Tea?"

Yugi flushed slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I talk to Tea all the time."

"Uh-huh," the former pharaoh smirked.

"Yo, Yugi, Atem, you comin'?" Joey called. The rest of the group, including Ana, had already found their usual spot by the fence.

"Yeah, Joey," Yugi called back. He and Atem sat between Tea and Joey, completing the circle. Atem made a conscious effort to eat normally and pay attention to the conversation, instead of letting his eyes constantly wander back to the grey-eyed girl. He was pretty successful, if he did say so himself, even contributing to the conversation a little, until the topic shifted to focus on the very girl he was trying not to 'creep out'.

"So, Ana, what brought you to Domino City?" Tea asked.

Ana swallowed the bit of rice she had been working on. "My aunt and uncle decided to move the majority of their business operations here. They're our primary guardians, so we came with them." She smiled at the curiosity that was apparent on everyone's faces. Best get the awkward conversation over with. "To save you all from asking, yes, my parents passed away a long time ago. I doubt Sarra even really remembers them."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tea said, looking remorseful. Several sets of eyes looked at her sympathetically, including a strong pair of violet ones.

Ana shook her head reassuringly. "Like I said, it was a long time ago. Anyway, I've lived in Japan before. Briefly, when my aunt and uncle were just starting to expand here. So it wasn't too bad of a transition."

"It sounds like you've moved a lot," Atem commented. There was an air of experience behind her words that he could tell had grown from more than a potential past life.

She nodded. "Yeah, my aunt and uncle have a pretty international business. I don't mind though. I owe a lot to them. And they've at least promised me that they won't move me anymore, so that I can apply for college and finish high school."

"Do you know what kind of school you want to go to?" Tea asked. It was something that was on her mind too.

"Well, I've got an interest in medicine," she said contemplatively, "It's way early for me to make that type of decision though. But I'm definitely going to a university."

"So how'd you get into Duel Monsters, Ana? You don't really look like someone who plays a lot of games," Joey asked.

Ana laughed. "Hey, I do like having fun, thanks. Since we moved around a lot, Sarra and I didn't often have a chance to make friends. We mostly had each other. So we learned all sorts of games. Duel Monsters is both of our favorites."

"Have you ever played competitively?" Duke wondered.

"That was more of Sarra's thing," was all she said. Atem couldn't help but think there was something cryptic about her smile though.

"She did seem very enthusiastic when we met her yesterday," Yugi agreed. "She asked if we could duel sometime."

Ana rubbed the back of her head, chuckling. "Yeah, she can be…energetic. She told me that she burst in while your store was closed. Sorry about that, by the way."

Yugi waved her apology off. "It was no problem. I told her she was welcome to come back. You should come, too. In fact, you're both welcome to come over after school today. We tend to hang out there in the afternoons."

She smiled at the invitation. "Thanks, that's really nice of you. But unfortunately, I've actually got some errands to run after class today. We're still not quite settled in at our new place. But maybe next time? Sarra would be ecstatic to hang out with the 'King of Games'. She's kind of one of your biggest fans." She winked.

Yugi flushed, embarrassed, making Atem grin. His partner still wasn't that used to the respect and admiration his skill and character earned him. "You're welcome anytime," Atem said for him.

Ana looked visibly surprised. Atem supposed he really hadn't made the greatest first impression. He tried to make as pleasant and reassuring an expression as he could. It seemed to work, for her smile widened, making her eyes sparkle. "Thank you, Atem."

* * *

The rest of lunch passed very agreeably. Ana reveled at the fact that she had managed to find such a nice group of people. They were all so genuinely welcoming. She could tell, though, that they had been through a lot together. They all possessed a depth and maturity of character (yes, even Joey) that surprised Ana, especially considering they were all high school students. It made her wonder what they saw in her.

One person especially intrigued her. Atem had acted so strangely when he had first met her. She hadn't been sure if he liked her at all. Although, from what Sarra had told her, it had sounded like he had been awkward on their first meeting as well. Maybe he was just shy, and not good with strangers. But he had seemed to warm up to her quickly, and acted a lot more normal during lunch.

Ana hadn't been able to help comparing brother to brother. Sure, they looked very similar, which made sense seeing as they were twins, but anyone would quickly be able to see how different they were as well. Yugi was a well of cheer, optimism, and gentleness. Atem, however, felt like a river, deep and powerful, brimming with confidence and strength. It was almost like looking at day and night.

But strangest thing about them was that however different they were, they were perhaps even more similar. Underneath Yugi's gentleness was a different kind of strength, just as deeply rooted. And woven into Atem's confidence was a kindness that swam just under the surface. The two brothers were very close, Ana could tell. Probably as close as she was to Sarra.

Now, Ana was aware that she had an unusual knack for reading people. But even with all of that, Ana couldn't help but feel like there was a lot she wasn't getting. There was still a shroud of mystery surrounding Atem, and she couldn't help but be intrigued by it.

Shaking her head as she contemplated all this, she continued trekking her way down the streets of Domino City. It was after school, and she was on her way to the shopping center. Although it was only midafternoon, there were plenty of people bustling about. She checked her phone to make sure she was heading in the right direction – at least, she hoped she was. Maybe she should have gone with Sarra when she had gone exploring through the city.

Luckily, the shopping center was a relatively easy-to-find target. She bought some necessities they still needed for their condo – kitchen and bathroom stuff, some extra sheets, etc. When she felt like she was probably at the limit of what she could reasonably carry back, she decided to do some personal shopping.

Stepping into a relatively popular clothing store, she started perusing some summer wear. Not really paying attention to her surroundings, and a little awkward with the bags she was already carrying, she managed to bump into someone's chest as she was backing up to make room for a passerby.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that –"

"Ana?" a deep voice rang.

Speak of the devil. She turned around. "Oh, hi Atem."

Violet eyes blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

She quirked her brow and gave the fairly obvious answer. "Shopping, you?"

"Um, I'm also shopping, apparently," he answered, before noticing her bags. "Here let me hold some of those." Without waiting for a response, he took a couple off her hands.

She smiled, "Thanks. And what do you mean by 'apparently'?"

He grimaced. "This wasn't really my idea."

"Oh? Then whose was it?"

As if in answer, Yugi came up to them with an armful of clothes. "Atem, what do you think of these?" he asked his brother, "Oh, hi Ana! Imagine bumping into you here! You getting some clothes too?"

She nodded. "Well, I'm more window shopping now. I'll probably come back later when I've got more free hands," she gestured to the bags. She looked at the pile of fabric in his arms. "Is Atem getting a fashion upgrade or something?"

To her amusement, the taller brother flushed under his tan.

Yugi laughed, "No, he just needs some clothes. He, uh, he didn't really bring much back from Egypt." His eyes flicked to his twin's for a moment, and once again Ana was under the impression she missed something. Maybe it was a twin thing.

"Since the rest of the guys were busy this afternoon, we decided now was as good of a time as any. So I brought him here," he continued.

"Don't you mean dragged," Atem muttered, making Ana suppress a laugh. Clearly, he was uncomfortable.

Yugi ignored him. "So, what do you think of these?" he shifted his arms, bringing attention back to the clothes they had gathered. Ana noted that most of the choices were black. It was funny, Yugi would have been one of the last people whose style she'd expect to fall toward the punk/goth style, but apparently, it worked for him.

Atem seemed fairly indifferent though. He shrugged. "Sure."

Yugi frowned. "Come on, you're going to have to _wear_ these, you know. Don't you want clothes you actually like?"

He shrugged again.

Yugi sighed. "I'll put these back." Then his eyes lit up, "Hey, Ana, maybe you could help him pick some stuff while I'm gone?"

"Huh?"

"Just try, otherwise he's just going to stand there," he gave his brother a knowing look.

Ana blinked. "Uh, okay," she found herself saying. Yugi smiled gratefully before taking off. She turned back to face Atem, who appeared to be giving a betrayed look at his brother's back.

 _Well, this should be interesting_.

* * *

"So…what kind of clothes _do_ you like?" Ana asked, making Atem turn his gaze back to her.

He shrugged again. "I'm not sure. I've never really had a choice before," he said. It was true – for the last year or so he literally had to wear whatever Yugi was wearing. Even in Ancient Egypt he didn't get much say in what he wore, as a member of the royal family.

" _Well that's silly. You would think the crown prince would have some say in his wardrobe."_

Atem started. "Did you say something?" he asked Ana. She had taken his answer at face value and was examining a rack of men's tops.

The gaze that turned toward him was confused. "No?"

"Sorry, never mind."

She looked at him curiously for a few more seconds, before shrugging. Picking out a burgundy tee, she held it up to him, chest level.

"What do you think of this, then? I think red would look nice on you," she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

His head suddenly throbbed. For a brief moment, he started seeing flashes of a more tanned arm holding a deep red cloth up to him. He raised a hand to massage a temple.

Grey eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

He immediately dropped his hand. "I'm fine," trying to mentally shake himself of the strange vision, he forced himself to focus more on the shirt she was holding. "Oh yes, um, I like it?"

Her lips twitched. "You really don't care, do you?"

His shoulders dropped guiltily. "Sorry," he admitted. "I really am fine with anything."

Ana smirked. "Oh? Even a dress? Because I can go tell Yugi we're shopping in the wrong section."

His jaw dropped a little. "No, wait! I mean – Actually, that shirt is very nice. I'll take it."

She threw her head back in laughter. "You've got good taste, after all," she joked.

He grabbed the hanger from her, his own mouth turning up into a grin. "Why, thank you."

With Ana's prodding and gentle teasing, he actually managed to pick out a few outfits. Yugi appeared pleased when he _finally_ rejoined them, after leaving the two of them alone for a suspiciously long time. His sly smile reminded Atem of that time he had been tricked into spending that day with Tea, although that hadn't been that bad at all. Neither was this. Atem found himself growing comfortable in Ana's presence very quickly.

Yugi then brought them over to the accessories section, and Atem couldn't stop himself from selecting a few gold arm bands, rings, and even some earrings. Interestingly, this body still had all of his old piercings. Maybe he did care about his appearance at least a little.

After they were all finished, Yugi checked his phone. "Oh, it looks like the others are done and want to hang out. They're meeting us at grandpa's store," he told Atem.

The former pharaoh nodded, and turned to Ana a little hesitantly. "Would you like to come with us?" he asked. He was slightly embarrassed to admit it, but he didn't want to lose her company yet. And since he was almost certain she had _something_ to do with his missing memories, he was eager to get to know her more.

The girl smiled at the invitation. "That sounds nice, but I really should get these back home," she said, gesturing to the bags, some of which were still in his hands.

"If you come over, my grandpa can give you a ride home. I know he'd be happy to. Besides, his shop is really close by," Yugi piped in.

Ana looked at him in surprise. "Really? Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother."

"No bother at all," Yugi waved her off, "He's always happy to help out our friends."

She still seemed hesitant, "I don't know…"

"If you come, I'll tell you how I found that 'Light of the Goddess' card," he didn't know what made him say it. He didn't even know why he thought that would be an incentive. Even Yugi was looking at him in confusion.

But it worked. "Okay," she said. Looking at her in surprise, Atem noted that her face was carefully blank. However, he got the feeling it really did have to do with his offer. _Curious_. Outwardly, though, he gave her a pleased smile. She returned it with a small smile of her own. "But is it okay if I invite my sister, too? Her school should just be getting out, and she was eager to see the store again."

"Of course!" Yugi answered happily. Nodding her thanks, she shot off a quick text to Sarra.

The three of them chatted more as they walked back to the shop. Ana asked Yugi about their adventures during the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments. She was suitably impressed, although they obviously left out the parts involving soul stealing, Shadow world banishing, and magical gold items.

"Atem, what was Egypt like? What were you doing there?" she then asked.

Atem started, and nervously shifted his gaze back and forth between her and Yugi. His 'brother' looked a little panicky as well. They probably should have nailed down a stronger story before this. "Um, I was studying…"

"Studying what?" Grey eyes blinked at him in innocent curiosity.

"Archaeology."

"Law."

The twins looked at each other, silently cursing to themselves. Really should have discussed this before. "Both," Yugi quickly covered.

Ana looked at the former pharaoh with surprise, although suspicion started to creep into her gaze. "Wow, really? That's impressive. I didn't realize high schools even offered those fields of studies."

 _Uh oh_.

"Um, it was a special program," Atem quickly blurted out. "Our grandfather is used to work at the university there, and he was able to pull some strings."

Yugi nodded. _Nice cover_ , his look clearly said.

The suspicion in her expression cleared, and now she just looked impressed. "You must have been really interested in those subjects, to study abroad this early."

"Well," Atem scratched a cheek nervously, "You could say I have a…long standing personal attachment to them."

Yugi stifled a laugh with his hand.

"What about you?" Atem quickly countered. "You said you were interested in medicine?"

"Ah, yeah," Ana looked ahead contemplatively, "I'm not a hundred percent certain. I'm very aware of the fact that I haven't actually had much experience in the field. It's just always felt like the right path to take."

"Sounds like fate," he couldn't help but observe.

This made her turn back her strong gaze at him and grin challengingly. "I believe in deciding my own destiny, thanks."

Something about the way she said it wasn't as inflammatory as when Kaiba would. Atem actually chuckled instead.

By that time, they had reached Grandpa's Muto's Game Shop. "Grandpa, we're home!" Yugi called out as they entered and headed toward the back.

"Your grandpa stepped out to do some errands, Yugi," Tea stood up from behind the counter, holding what looked like a shipment box. "He asked us to mind the store. Oh, hi Ana!"

"Hey, Tea," she said. "Yugi, do you mind if I stow our bags behind the counter?"

"Sure, go ahead." Both she and Atem dropped her bags and tucked them into a safe corner. Then he took his clothes bags from Yugi and briefly went upstairs to put them away in his new room. By the time he came back down, Joey and Tristan were out in the store area too. Joey was apparently back to pestering Ana for a duel.

"Come on, I just wanna see how you play! I haven't had a new opponent in a while!"

"Uh, well…"

"I know it might be intimidating, seeing as I was a finalist at both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, but I promise I'll go easy on ya."

That made her quirk her brow. Atem started to smile. He had a feeling there was more to her dueling skills than she had let on.

"Fine," she acquiesced.

"Yes!" Joey pumped his fist, "Yugi, would you mind lending Ana your duel disk?"

"No need," the girl said before Yugi could answer. She opened her backpack to reveal a pristine KaibaCorp duel disk lying innocuously in the bag. Opening a separate pouch, she pulled out a deck of cards. _At least definitely more experienced than she's letting on, to carry a deck and duel disk around like that._

"Alright, then, guys, take it outside," Yugi urged. "Grandpa's shop isn't made for indoor duels."

They agreed and left the shop, strapping on their duel disks as they went. The others, including Atem, followed them to watch.

"Ready Ana?" the blonde grinned, activating the device.

"Sure, Joey," she responded, powering on her own.

"I'll let you go first then," Joey said, an awful note of condescension to his words.

"How gentlemanly of you," Ana replied, "I'll set a monster in defense mode." The large holographic card appeared in front of her, not revealing the monster she had set. "Then I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Not bad!" Joey said. "Alright, here I go! You ready, Ana? Don't worry, I'm a man, and I'll keep my promise to hold back a little."

"I have a feeling that if Joey keeps talking like that, he's going to really regret it later," Yugi couldn't help but say with a sigh.

"I agree," Atem nodded, "He's being overconfident. And I can tell – Ana is no novice at dueling."

"I summon Alligator's Sword [1500/1200] in attack mode!" the blonde declared. The reptile sparked into view. "Now, attack!" The monster stabbed the holographic card. Briefly, an image of some sort of ship flickered into existence before shattering into pieces. "All right! But good job putting it into defense mode, Ana! Now your life points are safe."

The peanut gallery sighed, before gasping slightly as Alligator's Sword suddenly shattered too.

"Wha? What happened?"

"Sorry, Joey," Ana said, smiling slightly, "But my Yomi Ship [800/1400] has a special ability – if any monster destroys it in battle, that monster is destroyed too."

"Argh, what?" he exclaimed, before huffing, "Fine. Then I set a card face down and end my turn."

"Alright, I draw." She looked at her hand contemplatively.

"Yes, definitely no novice," Atem commented, "Since she had the first move, she couldn't attack. So instead she set it up so that Joey wouldn't have any monsters on his side of the field for her next turn."

"Wow, I see," remarked Tea.

"I summon my Gora Turtle of Illusion [1200/1400] in attack mode," Ana called out, placing the card on her disk. A medium size turtle with glowing eyes appeared on the field. "Attack Joey's life points directly, please!"

"Now, hold on a sec!" the blonde interrupted, "I play my magic card, Energy Drain*! Now I get to draw a card and your monster's attack points become 0!"

"Sorry, Joey," Ana said once again, "But spell and trap cards don't work on my Gora Turtle."

"What?!" He grunted as he took the hit from the luminescent reptile [LP: 2800]. "Argh, you're better than I thought, Ana."

"Why, thank you." Her stance was casual, even while holding a duel disk in front of her. With her smile, she was the picture of confidence.

"Uh guys, why do I have the feeling Joey is about to get his butt kicked," Tristan deadpanned. No one watching bothered to respond.

"It's your turn, Joey," the raven-haired gird called out.

"I know that!"

"Wow, who got my sister to duel?" a new voice piped from next to the group. They all turned to look at her in surprise.

"Sarra!" Yugi exclaimed, recognizing her.

"Hi Yugi! Atem!" the younger girl chirped, waving. "Thanks for inviting me! I couldn't believe it when Ana said she was in the same class as you!"

"Yeah, well we were surprised to find out she was the one you wanted the card for," Yugi smiled. Sarra shrugged, grinning lightly. He made quick introductions for the others, before they all turned their attention back to the duel. Joey had summoned Axe Raider [1700/1150] to the field and even equipped it with Legendary Sword, raising its attack and defense points by 300. "I guess Joey finally started taking this duel seriously."

"Ooh, was he underestimating Ana? She's gonna steamroll him then," Sarra said, shaking her head. "She tends to go a little overboard sometimes when she's trying to prove a point."

"Sarra, tell me," Atem requested, "What's your sister's true experience in dueling?"

The younger girl snickered. "Oh she avoided telling you guys, huh? Well it's true she doesn't compete as much as me, but when she has, she's never lost."

"Never lost?!" Tristan and Tea exclaimed, although Yugi and Atem looked unsurprised. They watched as Joey destroyed Ana's Gora Turtle with his Axe Raider [LP: 3200].

"Yep," Sarra popped her lips on the 'p.' "She keeps to small tournaments, because she doesn't like too much attention. But she's incredibly good – she's always had a natural talent, even. I hardly ever beat her, even casually."

"Hmm," Atem murmured, intrigued, keeping his eyes on Ana. She was setting another monster face down in defense position.

"Alright," Joey murmured, "Time to get serious. I summon Rocket Warrior [1500/1200] in attack mode!" The little green monster appeared on the field, sword in hand. "Now, attack her face down!"

A purple-haired woman wrapped in green appeared from the card.

"I activate the spell, The Reliable Guardian!" Ana shouted, "It raises the defense points of my Element Magician [1500/1200] by 700. Now your Rocket Warrior is weaker than it."

"Fine," cried Joey, "But I still don't take damage cuz of Rocket Warrior's special effect. And, your Element Magician is still weaker than my Axe Raider! Attack!"

"I activate my second face down!" Ana responded, holding out her hand, "Magical Arm Shield!" A purple card flipped up, revealing a box with a grabber tool extending from it. It grabbed Joey's Rocket Warrior and moved it to Ana's side of the field. "Now your Axe Raider has no choice but to attack your Rocket Warrior instead. And since it's still your turn, your Rocket Warrior can't be destroyed." The attack bounced uselessly off of the monster.

"Grr…" Joey growled in frustration.

Ana merely smiled as she drew. When she saw the card, her smile grew, and a dangerous glimmer appeared in her eye.

"This is probably the last turn," Sarra remarked, sporting a smile of her own.

"Last turn? So quickly?" Tea exclaimed, looking at the smaller girl in astonishment.

"Yep, just watch."

"First, I sacrifice your Rocket Warrior to summon Tethys, Goddess of Light [2400/1800]!" A beautiful armored woman with wings materialized to the field, briefly blinding the spectators. Still gripping the card she had just drawn, Ana grinned, "Alright Joey, I've been itching to try this card out, so I'll let you be the first one to see it in action."

The blonde gulped nervously.

Next to Yugi, Sarra sighed. "See? Overboard."

"Since I have a Goddess on the field, I can summon this!" Ana slapped her final card from her hand onto her duel disk, "Light of the Goddess!"

Atem's brows rose as he watched the card he gave her glimmer into existence. Since he and Yugi had never played it before, he was interested in seeing it in action. The monster looked just like a necklace. It had both 0 attack and defense points; however, it immediately moved to hang around Tethys's neck. "Light of the Goddess forces any spellcaster or warrior of my choosing to submit half its attack points to my Tethys," she explained. Her monster's attack strength grew to 3400, while Axe Raider's decreased to 1000.

"Uh oh," Joey blurted, flinching.

"Now, Element Magician, destroy Axe Raider!" The monster sent out a glowing whip of light, shattering Joey's warrior [LP: 2300]. "And finally, Tethys, finish this off by attacking him directly!" The winged monster began to gather light in her hands, it's brilliance almost blinding, before hurling it at Joey.

And with that, the duel was over.

The holograms began to disappear as Joey whined in disbelief. Ana only stood there, long hair whipping around her, that enigmatic smile still on her face. Her stormy eyes sparkled with the sunlight, as if they were clouds themselves.

Atem was entranced.

* * *

A man wrapped in dark robes watched as the basin of liquid suddenly lit up to illuminate the dark room. Ancient carvings on stone walls were bathed in the harsh light, making the etchings appear shadowed and sinister. The man smiled. _So, it has finally appeared._

* * *

 **A/N** : Whew. Wow, and that was supposed to be a short duel. It was easier to write than I thought it would be – probably because I refamiliarized myself with the game through YuGiOh Duel Links. I have to admit, I'm enjoying myself. I'll go ahead and admit that a number of the cards Ana will use will be purely because I have experience using them myself. But she's also got several special cards of her own, a preview of which appeared in this duel.

Also, I know Joey can be a better duelist than this. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. But he was being a blockhead in this scene, and Ana has a vindictive side, haha.

By the way, if you haven't been able to tell already, I'm a huge fan of Atem's awkward side. (That coronation scene. "Uh...hi." HAHA) So expect it to come out a lot. It's just so precious and adorable!

So things are slowly starting to move along. I hope your interest is piqued! Please leave a review if you can!


	3. Mistaken Memories

Chapter 3: Mistaken Memories

"That was amazing, Ana!" Tristan said happily as they re-entered the shop. "You _creamed_ Joey."

"Oi, I'm right here." The blonde was still more than a little disgruntled over his defeat. "And I was going easy on her, just so ya know."

"Sure, Joey."

Ana smiled hesitantly at him. "Sorry, Joey. I kind of went a little overboard. I got too excited." She hoped she hadn't soured any potential friendship between them. She was used to only having her sister for most of her life, but after just one day with these people, she was already starting to feel attached. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, yet.

Thankfully, after pouting for a few more seconds, the blonde broke into an easy grin. "Don't worry about it, Ana. I _was_ kind of asking for it. And we had fun, right? That's what matters." He gave a her a friendly pat on top of her head.

Her smile widened with relief. "Yeah, actually, I had a lot of fun. It's been a while since I dueled anyone other than my sister."

"Your dueling _was_ great," Yugi remarked, letting them into the area behind the store. Tea had volunteered to stay up front to keep an eye on things until Solomon came back. "You clearly have a lot of experience."

She shrugged. "My sister keeps me on my toes," she said, grinning at Sarra, who stuck her tongue out in reply.

"Don't bother, sis. I already told them," the younger girl smirked.

"Told them what?"

"That you've never lost an official duel."

To her annoyance, Ana felt herself flush. "Don't make it sound like more than it is. I've never participated in any big competitions."

"Sure, Ana," her sister waved her off, before directing her attention to the King of Games, "Yugi, do you think we could duel, too?" Ana shook her head at her antics – Sarra was practically bouncing on her toes.

"Sarra, we just came back inside," she tried to reason.

"I just want a casual one! We don't have to use duel disks. Come on, please?" She gazed pleadingly at Yugi.

 _Uh oh_. Ana knew that look. Those puppy eyes had gotten them both into trouble countless of times. _Poor Yugi_.

"Uh, sure, Sarra, why not," he agreed, clearly looking a little blindsided.

Sighing, Ana settled herself on the couch with resignation as they set up a dueling mat on the coffee table. Joey and Tristan went to the kitchen to look for some snacks, while Atem came to sit next to her.

"Good game," he told her in that deep voice.

She smiled. "Thanks – but I know Joey can do better. I've watched a couple of his duels; if this had been a real match I'm sure it would have gone a lot differently."

The darker skinned boy gave a small, indulgent smile of his own. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. I have a feeling you're still understating your skills and your cards. But that would certainly be an interesting match to watch. Are you thinking of joining some larger tournaments? Domino City hosts quite a few of them."

"I certainly had that impression," she said, "But I don't know. Dueling has always been just something fun for me. I've never felt that strongly about competing." She pulled out her deck contemplatively.

"Hmm," Atem hummed.

"That reminds me, you promised to tell me where you found this," she pulled out the Light of the Goddess card. Holding it up to his face, she quirked a brow. "I've been looking for one of these for over a year."

Atem shrugged, "From a card trading store in the city. They sometimes have some really rare stock. This one came in a small set, actually." He plucked the card from her hand to twirl it between his fingers. Violet eyes looked at her curiously. "Why did you want to know?"

Ana chose her words carefully. "Well, there's still something else I'm looking for. I thought maybe the place you got this could help."

Truth be told, she tried not to think about how much stock she was putting in a dream. But when she had seen in a random magazine a card with a picture that looked exactly like the necklace she had been dreaming of almost every night, she knew that she had to find it. She told herself it was in order to find out more about her dream, maybe even make them stop, but a part of her knew it was more because she wanted to find _him_. The man that would give this necklace to her in her dreams. She was never able to catch a glimpse of him, but something told her that the necklace, the card, would give her a hint. _With this, we'll always be connected_.

"Well, if you'd like," Atem said slowly, reclaiming her attention, "I could take you to there." He handed the card back to her.

She blinked as she took it. "Really? I wouldn't want to bother you. I mean, you've already given me a really rare card."

"It's no trouble," he shook his head, "Um… I've been meaning to refamiliarize myself with the city anyway. I'd be happy to help you."

"Oh, well, thank you," she said hesitantly. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea though. What was she supposed to tell him, 'I'm actually looking for the man of my dreams?'. Yeah, that definitely wouldn't send him running in the opposite direction. But…she didn't want to say no. She felt…drawn to him, at least to the mystery she still sensed around him. And he had been good company today; she had enjoyed getting to know him. "Alright, then," she finally smiled, "Would this weekend be alright? Say, Saturday?"

He smiled back and nodded.

Joey and Tristan burst back into the room at that moment, briefly interrupting their conversation with arms full of their loot. Noticing the casual duel happening on the table, they quickly settled onto the carpet to watch, stuffing their faces. Ana and Atem observed the game for a moment themselves, still comfortable on the couch. Eventually, Ana asked him, "Say, Atem…Everyone's heard and seen Yugi duel, but I've never heard anything about your dueling. But you had this rare card. Why don't you duel competitively either? I'm sure you have some more rare and powerful cards too."

The boy crossed his arms, a tad defensively, Ana thought. "Well, let's just say I've had… extenuating circumstances. Until now I haven't really been free to duel on my own." He appeared to be choosing his words carefully, as if there was an underlying meaning to them.

"Do you mean your studies?"

"Ah, yes, in a sense. In any case, neither Yugi nor I duel for notoriety. Yugi has always had his own reasons for entering the tournaments he has," Atem grinned, "He's just been very successful when he does."

The corners of her lips turned up. "You sound very proud," she noted.

He nodded. "I am."

"Hmm, well, I'm still interested in seeing _you_ duel, Atem."

He turned his head to face her, eyes glimmering in merriment. "Tell you what, the next tournament _you_ enter, so will I."

She smirked back. "Fine."

"Aww, I lost," Sarra exclaimed, staring at the cards with resignation. "Wow, Yugi, you really are good."

"What else would you expect from the King of Games," Joey grinned, locking his friend in a headlock.

"Joey, stop," a red faced Yugi pleaded, shaking the blonde off. "That was a great game, Sarra. You've got some really good strategies."

"Thanks, Yugi! I guess they just weren't good enough today. And thanks for dueling me, I still can't believe I'm here and hanging out with you," Sarra gushed, her boundless energy already returning. Yugi just laughed, embarrassed.

Ana smiled at her indulgently. She was glad her sister was having fun. _And,_ she thought, glancing at the boy next to her on the couch, _I'm glad we came here today_.

* * *

Ana and her sister had just left with Solomon, who was making good on his grandson's promise to give them a ride home. The rest of gang were still in Yugi's living room, ready to reflect on the day.

"So, Atem, do you think one of them is the girl Mahad was talking about?" Tea asked.

"I'm almost certain," he replied, nodding, "Today, while we were shopping with Ana, something strange occurred." He described the voice he had heard, and the brief vision he had seen earlier in the day.

"Sounds like a memory to me," Tristan remarked.

"Yes."

"The trouble is," Yugi mused, "how are we going to know for sure? And say Ana _is_ the girl Mahad was talking about, what next? We need to find that missing piece of the Puzzle, and defeat whatever this new enemy is. But it looks like what Mahad said is true – Ana doesn't seem to remember anything."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Atem said, "When we talked today… There's more to her than she's letting on. At the very least, she's searching for something, something related to that card we gave her, but I'm not sure if even she realizes exactly what it is."

"Wow, you got all that just from today?"

The darker skinned boy nodded. "Yes, and I'm helping her with her search this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to learn more."

"What do you mean?" Yugi blinked.

"I'm taking her to the store where we got the Light of the Goddess card," Atem explained, "this Saturday." He grunted as suddenly he was under the weight of both Joey and Tristan hooking their arms around his neck.

"Wow, Atem, and I thought Yugi was my hero!" Joey exclaimed, smirking and mussing the former pharaoh's hair.

"What?"

"Yeah," Tristan said, grinning from ear to ear as well, "Alive again for not even a week and you've already got a date?"

"Date?" A red glow was beginning to emerge on his tan cheeks.

Tea frowned, looking annoyed. "I need more female friends," she mumbled, glaring.

Yugi smiled briefly at the teasing, but it quickly turned into a confused frown. "Store? We never got that card from a store." His comment made the boys stop their roughhousing and look up.

"What do you mean, Yugi? We got Light of the Goddess from that card trading store," Atem said, furrowing his brow as Tristan and Joey let him go.

Yugi shook his head. "I don't remember ever getting it from that store. In fact, I don't even really remember how we got that card at all. Which is why I thought it was weird when you said you would tell her."

"Are you sure? I could have sworn I remember finding it in the same pack we got our Lightforce Sword trap card."

"Yeah, that's really weird. Hmm," Yugi mumbled, tapping his chin, "Well, I feel like this just confirms that there's something strange about that card, and Ana is involved somehow."

"Yes," Atem agreed. _Hopefully, we'll find some answers this weekend_.

* * *

"So, sis," Sarra had a mischievous smirk on her lips as she set the table for dinner. "You and Atem looked pretty cozy on the couch. I told you he was cute, didn't I?"

"Sarra!" Ana chastised, slapping her sister on the shoulder, "Stop."

"I'm just saying, he seemed pretty into you, especially after he watched your duel." Grey eyes winked at her.

Ana narrowed her own stormy eyes, desperately attempting to fight off the blush trying to emerge on her cheeks as she removed a casserole from the oven, "I thought _you_ liked him."

"Well sure," Sarra said, shrugging, "I mean, have you looked at him? The guy is _hot_ – he's got the whole exotic, mysterious persona down." The younger Schuyler giggled.

The older girl sighed, placing their dinner on the table, "You're impossible."

As they sat down to eat, Sarra looked around. "Aunt and Uncle aren't joining us today, either, huh?" she noted, a hint of sadness lining her voice.

Ana sighed, "No." Ana was used to it, and had stopped being bothered by their guardians' lack of presence in their lives a long time ago. But she knew that to Sarra, their aunt and uncle were the only parents she had ever known. She couldn't help but crave their presence.

However, her sister quickly shrugged the sadness off. "This looks delicious, sis. As always. Someday you have to teach me your tricks in the kitchen."

Ana quirked a brow. "Sure, as soon as you figure out how not to burn water."

Her sister stuck her tongue out. "Maybe I will, as soon as you figure out how not to get hopelessly lost in an open field."

"Humph," she pouted.

* * *

"Dammit," Ana cursed, wandering uselessly around the school halls. "It's got to be around here, somewhere." As she looked around, the warning bell sounded over the PA system. "Shit." She'd been at this school for almost a week now, and she was still getting lost. Why couldn't they invent GPS for the inside of buildings?

Breaking into a jog, she decided to try a turn she hadn't taken before. Unfortunately, the world seemed to have other plans, because she ended up running into a solid brick wall. Barely keeping herself from falling, she rubbed her nose. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That was obvious, idiot," a disparaging voice responded.

Looking up, she grimaced. "Polite as ever, Seto," she chided, glaring at the taller figure.

"Hn. Where do you think you're going, anyway? Our class is in the opposite direction." A smirk worked its way to the young CEO's lips. "You're lost, aren't you? I see _you_ haven't changed either."

"Shut _up_ , Seto. What are you even doing here? Don't you have a company to run?" she accused, annoyed at being found out.

"High school drop outs don't look good on KaibaCorp's repertoire," he said simply. "In any case, I'm a genius. I can do both at once." With that, he brushed past her and continued to stride down the hall. Grumbling to herself, Ana started after him. At least she had found someone to follow to class, even if she had to put up with Seto Kaiba's snark.

They entered the classroom together, drawing some attention. However, they ignored both it and each other, and quickly separated to go to their respective desks. On her way, she caught Yugi and Atem's eyes. They were looking at her curiously. She gave them a friendly smile before sliding into her seat, just in time for the day's first lesson.

"Alright guys, today we're going to start our lessons on Ancient Egypt," the teacher said, shuffling some papers in front of him. Strangely, there were several coughs around the classroom at his words, coughs that sounded suspiciously like snorts.

"Something funny, Wheeler?" the teacher glared at the blonde behind Ana.

"No, sir, not at all," he responded with an easy grin. Ana watched as, for some reason, he cast a knowing glance at Atem, who sighed.

"Oh, that's right," the teacher realized, "Atem, you just spent the past few years studying in Egypt, correct?"

"Uh, yes," Atem said hesitantly, clearly suspicious of where all this was leading.

"That's perfect! Why don't you be one of our class's committee reps for the upcoming school festival; we could do an Ancient Egyptian-themed activity."

"Wait, what? I mean…" the boy's violet eyes widened in shock. Unfortunately, the rest of the class appeared to be already getting excited about the idea. As the enthusiastic clamor began to grow in the room, he threw a panicked look at Yugi, who could only shrug back at him helplessly.

"Uh…" Atem could only say.

Ana bit her lip, trying to think of an idea to help him out, the pour guy. "But, sir, um," she spoke out, "Atem's only just joined this school. Don't you think it would be a little overwhelming to suddenly put him in charge of something like this?"

"Hm," the teacher pondered, "Good point." Atem looked at her gratefully, and she started to smile back, until the teacher continued, "Why don't you help him, then, Ana. I think this would be a great way for the both of you to get to know the school."

 _What?!_

"Will anyone second their nominations?" Ana glared at the instructor. Did that even count as a nomination? Unfortunately, the class was apparently gung-ho about this idea now, so seconds were called from all around the room.

Now, two pairs of eyes grew panicked.

 _Shit._

* * *

Although he had grown close to all of Yugi's friends during his tenure in the Millennium Puzzle, Atem had always felt a special bond with Joey. They had fought together countless times, and helped each other save the world on many occasions.

But right now, he just felt annoyance.

The blonde was laughing so much, he actually wasn't even eating his lunch. Luckily, before his patience ran out, Yugi intervened. "Come on, Joey, that's enough. It's not funny."

"Oh yes it is!" Joey wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "I can't believe _Atem_ is going to organize our class's school festival activity. And Ana, too!" He burst into hysterics again, practically rolling on the floor. Until a rolled egg struck him straight in the forehead.

" _Shut it_ , Wheeler," Ana glared, "This is all your fault anyway." She sighed, tilting her head back against the fence. "I can't believe this is happening. I've never even _been_ to a Japanese high school festival."

 _Neither have I_ , Atem wanted to say.

"Don't worry, Ana," Yugi reassured, "We'll help you two out, right guys?"

Tea nodded, "Yeah, we'll help you out."

Ana smiled, "Thanks, everyone. We haven't even started and I can't wait for this to be over."

"So, what does being a 'class representative' even entail?" Atem asked, resigning himself to his fate.

"You two are going to have to stay after class for the next couple of weeks, and go to committee meetings," Yugi explained. "Just tell them neither of you have been in Japan for several years, and the rest of the committee should be willing to explain things more clearly to you."

Atem sighed. For some reason, things seemed simpler when all they had to worry about were duels, shadow games, and evil ancient spirits. He wasn't sure how he was going to navigate this new challenge.

"Come on, Atem," his 'brother' piped, "Look at the bright side. The teacher was right – this will be a good way for you to get to know our school. And get accustomed to the city!"

The former pharaoh frowned. It was starting to sound like Yugi was forgetting their mission. Worse…he was forgetting that eventually, after they completed their mission, Atem would be returning to the afterlife. He wasn't here to stay.

"I guess I have no choice," was all he said aloud, though, with Ana present. Speaking of, he supposed this would be another opportunity to get to know her more, at the very least.

"Yeah, I guess we'll just have to make the best of it," Ana agreed.

"By the way," Duke spoke, "Ana, did you come to class with Kaiba this morning?"

Ana shrugged. "It was just by coincidence," she said, averting her gaze. She appeared to be hiding something, Atem noted. He wondered if she somehow already knew Kaiba in the past.

"Well, you're going to want to stay away from him," Joey warned, "He's a jerk."

The raven-haired girl snorted. "I got that, but thanks for the warning."

* * *

The rest of the day passed fairly benignly, and soon, it was time for everyone to go home for the weekend. Almost everyone that is.

"You ready, Atem?" Ana asked, approaching his desk.

He looked up to her and smiled. "Yes," he replied, standing up.

"Have fun, you two!" Yugi called, waving, as they made their way out the room.

"Why do I feel like everyone's getting more enjoyment out of our predicament than us?" Ana mused as they made their way down the halls.

"Probably because they are," he replied with a small smile.

"I still can't believe this happened to us."

"I'm sorry. If you hadn't tried to help me you probably wouldn't be in this mess, too," Atem apologized.

Ana waved him off. "I couldn't leave you stranded. That was really uncalled for by the teacher, anyway. So don't worry about it. We can just keep blaming Joey." She winked.

He smiled in response, "Sounds like a good plan to me."

Happy with their pact, Ana asked, "So, are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Of course," he nodded, "What time would you like to meet?"

"I'm pretty much free all day."

"Then how about 10 am? We could meet in front of Domino Station?"

"Sounds good!" They continued to make their way to the meeting room in comfortable silence, though Ana made sure to stay a half step behind Atem so that she wouldn't accidentally end up lost. When they entered the room, many of the other committee members were already there, and all eyes turned to them. Ana was starting to feel some déjà vu from this morning, except she realized most of them were staring at Atem this time.

"Did you get a tan, Yugi?" One girl asked, revealing the reason behind all the curious gazes.

"Oh, uh, I'm not Yugi. I'm his brother, Atem," he held a hand up in greeting.

"And I'm Ana," she introduced herself, "We're the representatives from class 2-1?"

"Great, we're just waiting on a few more people, but we'll get started in a couple minutes," another boy came up to them. "Go ahead and take a seat."

At first, the meeting was somewhat overwhelming for both Ana and Atem. They had no idea what to expect, or really what was even going on. But they felt bad about interrupting the proceeds just to ask for explanations. Eventually Ana picked up that their main duty was to be a go-between for their class to the student council. They had to get their class's activity for the festival approved to get a budget to spend, and they would pass on messages from the council to the rest of their classmates.

"Does any class already have an idea for their activity?" the council rep asked.

Ana and Atem shared a glance, but Atem still looked a little lost, so Ana raised a hand. "Our class was hoping to do an Ancient Egyptian theme."

The meeting leader looked at them quizzically. "That's an unusual idea."

"Well, we have a transfer student who just came back from Egypt, so I think everyone went off of that," the raven-haired girl explained, flicking her eyes to Atem.

"That's fine, then," the senior nodded, "Did your class agree on a specific activity?"

"Yes, actually," Ana continued, "Since we have the King of Games in our class, we thought we would do a game activity. People could come and play various board games for prizes. Duke Devlin agreed to lend us some games from his business, and Yugi said he would ask his grandfather as well." Kaiba had refrained from offering anything, but that was no surprise.

"Sounds like a solid plan," the council rep scribbled some things down on a paper and then gave it to Ana, "Give that to the office on Monday and they'll give you a voucher to buy supplies with. You two are good to go."

She bowed and thanked him. Since the other classes were still deciding on what to do, the meeting was wrapped up. She and Atem gathered their things again and were making their way to the exit, when they were stopped by the girl from earlier. Mizuki, if Ana remembered her name correctly.

"Hi, Atem," she said shyly, "I just wanted to say, um, I'm sorry for confusing you with your brother before. I was in the same class as him last year but hadn't seen him in a while, you see."

The olive-skinned boy blinked. "Oh, um, that's quite alright."

"So, um, how are you liking our school so far?" she was still looking at Atem shyly, but with a more purposeful smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Ana realized what was going on, and quickly began to feel uncomfortable. The girl clearly was trying to flirt. Question was, did Ana have to stick around for this?

 _Hell no_.

Sidling away as quietly as she could while he politely answered the question, Ana ducked out the door to freedom. _That was awkward_ , she thought to herself, striding toward the stairs. She supposed it made sense for Atem to be popular. Even though she hadn't admitted it the other night, Sarra was right; he _was_ attractive.

 _And you've practically got a date with him tomorrow._

Feeling herself blush, Ana grimaced to herself. She wasn't usually self-conscious, but now she was feeling a little weird about their plans for tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Ana thankfully found the station with no hiccups. When she arrived, Atem was already there waiting for her, standing in front of the entrance. He appeared to be deep in thought, although Ana noticed that he was attracting some attention. She quickly saw why.

In his casual clothing, he appeared even _more_ exotic than usual. He was wearing the burgundy fitted tee that she had picked out for him earlier that week, and like she suspected the color offset his olive skin nicely. He had coupled it with dark wash jeans and a heavily studded belt that contained what looked like a card pouch. To top it all off, he had accessorized. Gold bands curled around his toned biceps, and more gold dangled off of his ears – apparently he had several piercings to show off. Together with the large gold pyramid hanging off his neck, Atem was certainly eye catching.

Realizing she was staring, Ana quickly shook her head. _Come on, Ana. You've always known he was handsome, get over it. He's just helping you out today_.

"Hey, Atem," she called, waving.

Her greeting appeared to jolt him out of his thoughts. He turned to smile at her. "Ana. Good morning."

"Good morning," she smiled back. "Thanks for helping me out today."

"Of course," he said pleasantly, before his lips dropped into a slight frown. "What made you leave so quickly yesterday? I would have walked you home."

"Oh, well," she blinked, "I, uh, didn't want to get in the way of you making a new friend."

"You weren't in the way."

She shrugged. "Shall we get going? Lead the way."

His gaze bore into her for another second, before his smile returned and he nodded. "Follow me," he beckoned, leading them out of the square. As they walked, he pointed out various landmarks and points of interest, which Ana took in eagerly. Since she hadn't gone with Sarra that time she had accidently discovered the Mutos' Game Shop, this was her first time really exploring the city. Atem was being a very thorough guide, telling her little tidbits about the places they passed. He would also share some stories of the antics he and his friends had gotten into across the city.

"And that's where the Battle City tournament was first announced," he remarked, gesturing to the city square.

She nodded thoughtfully, before letting her brow furrow in confusion. "Atem, how long were you in Egypt?"

He blinked, looking a little hesitant. "For a couple years, but I came back for vacations. The Battle City tournament happened to be during one of my breaks."

"But you didn't compete."

"Er, no," he averted his gaze away from her, "But Yugi and Joey were, so I came to support them."

She nodded. "It sounds like you kept in close contact with your friends while you were away."

"Uh, yes."

By that point, they had started walking down smaller, less popular streets, with fewer people around. "How did you find this store in the first place?" she asked, looking at all the non-descript building facades.

"I came across it by chance when it was just opening," he explained. "I was impressed with their selection. It's why I brought some of my cards with me." He patted the pouch on his hip.

"Hm, maybe I'll update my deck while we're there, too," she mused, shifting the weight of her tote.

"Was what you're looking for not a card?" Atem flicked his gaze over to her carefully.

"Uh…no, it's…something else. I just want to find out more about that card," she said, pushing the memory of the voice in her dreams aside.

"Hmm," he hummed. Ana wasn't sure if he bought her weak story, but before she could worry about it too much, he said, "We're here."

They opened the door, setting off the chime. There was one other man shopping around, but there didn't appear to be anyone behind the counter, although they could hear some rustling from the back room.

"Let's wait until store worker comes back out," Ana said, "I just wanted to ask him where they got the card, or if someone traded it in."

Atem nodded in agreement. "Then why don't we have a look around."

They took some time to peruse the card selections. Ana found some good magic cards that would complement her deck, but she was admittedly more interested in observing Atem. Since she had never seen him duel she had no idea what his deck was like. Based on the cards he was interested in, he didn't seem to have a particular theme to his deck, though. However, for some reason, Ana just knew he was a strong duelist. _It's strange he's never competed, or that no one's heard of him. Being that his twin is the King of Games, and he's a duelist, you would think he'd compete at some point. Especially since it sounds like he was able to make it back in time for the tournaments Yugi was in_.

They each settled on a pack they were willing to trade for and approached the counter. An older man was now behind the register, looking like he was doing some inventory. He looked up. "You folks ready to make a trade?"

They made the appropriate exchange, after which Ana made her request. "Um, before we go, I was hoping you could help me out with something. Would you be able to find out where this store got this card?" She held up the Light of the Goddess card.

The man scrutinized it. "Hmm, let's see what I can pull up." He entered the card name into the computer. "That's funny. Are you sure you got that card from here? Because we don't have any record of ever having it in stock."

Atem furrowed his brow. "That can't be right. I was sure I got that card when I traded for Lightforce Sword. About half a year ago? Right before KaibaCorp's Battle City Tournament."

The employee nodded. "That would have been when we first opened. But even then we kept meticulous records." He continued tapping away at the keys, "I'm sorry but I don't see it. In fact, I've never even heard of this card, I'll admit. And I've been in this business for a while."

Ana frowned. That was odd, she herself had seen this card in a well-known Duel Monsters magazine.

Suddenly the man's jaw dropped. "Wait, it says here that there's only _one_ copy of Light of the Goddess in existence. You definitely didn't get that card from here. I would have known if we had something like that in stock."

"The only one in existence?" Ana exclaimed, her eyebrows shooting up. She turned to Atem, about to say 'You gave away a card like this?', but she could tell he was just as surprised.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, "I also would have known if I had something like that in my possession."

The store worker nodded. "We get our card database straight from Pegasus's own company, Industrial Illusions. It's funny though – for such a rare card it hasn't received much publicity. A card like this would usually be given away at a special event or as a prize."

"But I first found out about this card in a magazine," Ana insisted, "It's received plenty of publicity." She whipped out her phone, pulling up her internet browser. Typing in the name of the card, her search came up with nothing. She even went to the website of the magazine she had seen the card in. Nothing.

"Ana?" Atem's voice gently called to her.

"That's so weird," she mumbled, "I was so sure…"

He hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "I was, too. I'm sorry, Ana."

She looked up. "Don't be. It looks like both of our memories were mistaken."

His gaze became deeply contemplative. "Yes, it appears that way…" They thanked the employee and left the store, both still processing what they had found out.

Back outside, Ana stared at the Light of the Goddess card for a long moment, before reluctantly holding it out to him. "Did you want this back? I'd understand if you did, now that you know how rare it is."

He shook his head and smiled. "It's yours, now," he insisted, "I'm not one to take back gifts."

She smiled back and held the card to her chest, relieved. She would have given it back if he'd wanted, but she was already feeling attached to the card. Not because of its newfound rarity, but because of what it had come to mean to her. And just like her dreams, there appeared to be more to this card than she originally realized.

They started walking again, and Ana tucked both the Light of the Goddess and the new cards she'd just obtained with her deck in her tote.

"It's about lunch time," Atem noted, "Would you like to get some food?"

Ana smiled. "Sure, that sounds great. Do you have a place in mind?"

"I think so. Let's go back to the square," he replied, leading the way again. "So, what are you going to do about your search now?"

"Hm, I'm not sure," she pondered, tapping her chin. "You really can't think of another place you might have gotten it?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. It's strange, it's not even that I feel like I can't remember. I was so certain that it was from that store. In fact, the memory still seems so clear to me."

"I know exactly what you mean," Ana sighed, "I really had thought I'd seen it in a magazine. But I couldn't find record of that online, and now that I'm thinking about it, if a card like that had been in a magazine there definitely would have been more information and hype about it. It's hard to argue with the facts, but the memory is clear to me, too, and I can't think of any other way I would have found out about i— Ah!" she grunted as someone roughly bumped past her shoulder.

To her horror, she felt her tote being pulled off. "Hey!" she shouted as the perpetrator shot off before she could properly react. He was running away with her bag! Quickly, she began to pursue.

"Ana!" Atem called after her, but she ignored him.

 _I've got to catch this guy!_

* * *

 **A/N** : There we go! Another chapter. And did I just use the standard trope of lumping the female and male leads together as class reps for a school festival? Yes, yes I did.

If you haven't realized it already, although I'm going off the English version of the anime mostly, I still set Domino City in Japan. It just made sense to me – they wore classic Japanese school uniforms for most of the show, and it's hard to pass that off as American. In my head, though, there's a mix of Japanese and American names because this is slightly in the future and there's been a lot more international culture mixing. (Obviously, this is so far from reality it's not even funny. But hey, my story).

Because of this, I'm using some standard Japanese school traditions. Including a school festival. From what I know, each class picks an activity to do, and it's a chance to showcase the school and make a little money. Common things that are done are haunted houses, café's, etc. Now I'm getting all this information second hand, so if you are more familiar with this kind of thing, please let me know.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please drop your thoughts in a review!


	4. Shadows Return

**Chapter 4: Shadows Return**

"Ana! Wait!" Atem called, running after the girl and the thief she was chasing. He couldn't believe how reckless she was being. He understood that her bag was important to her, but that doesn't make it alright to just take off after a suspicious character (He conveniently forgot that he and Yugi used to do just that all the time). He pumped his legs harder, determined not to lose sight of them. The criminal appeared to be leading them toward a more deserted part of the city.

 _I have a bad feeling about this_.

Just as he suspected, they ended up by the pier. The thief ran into an empty warehouse, Ana and Atem following close behind. Once they entered, the doors slammed shut behind them, leaving the area inside to be dimly lit by the sunlight streaming through the windows.

Ana took a moment to catch her breath, before shouting at the figure, "Who the hell do you think you are? Give me back my bag!"

The thief was standing quietly at the other end of the warehouse, Ana's tote hanging from his hand. His face was covered in shadow from the hood of the dark jacket he was wearing, a jacket Atem recognized. "It's the man from the store!" he exclaimed.

Ana looked at him in surprise. "The other shopper?" she realized, and turned her glare back at the thief. "Did you follow us out of the shop?"

The man pushed back his hood, revealing his face. Atem immediately noticed an odd tattoo on his forehead, but couldn't quite make out the shape from this distance. The stranger opened his mouth to speak, "Not exactly. Rather than following you, I was waiting for you."

"Waiting for us? So, what, are you some creepy stalker?" Ana frowned.

"What do you want?" Atem added, "Return Ana's bag to us at once."

"I can't do that," the stranger replied, "It has something my master needs. And so do you, Pharaoh."

The former spirit narrowed his eyes. He knew it. This man had something to do with the new enemy he was supposed to face. Unfortunately, Ana was not quite as cognizant of what was going on. "Pharoah?" she repeated, bewildered.

The thief ignored her. He briefly rummaged in her bag, pulled out her duel disk, and tossed it to Atem.

Atem scowled, "I suppose I know where this is going. If I win this duel, you will return Ana's bag and everything in it," he demanded, strapping the device on.

"Very well, but if I win, you'll hand over your Millennium Puzzle," the stranger responded, loading his deck into his own disk.

"Fine," Atem growled, expecting as much.

"Wait, Atem, you don't need to do this," Ana interrupted, laying a hand on his shoulder. "This is my problem, let me handle it. You don't need to go risking anything."

"Sorry, girl, but I've already gotten what I wanted from you. However, the Pharaoh's Puzzle I need to win in a duel," the stranger interrupted.

"Why are you so fixed on a piece of jewelry anyway?" Ana shouted back, "And what does a card game have to do with anything?"

Atem covered her hand with his to calm her. "Ana, it's fine. Don't worry, I won't lose."

"Atem…" she said, still looking hesitant and concerned.

He smiled as reassuringly as he could. "I'll be fine, I promise." Grey eyes bore into amethyst ones for a long moment, before she finally assented, pulling back her hand.

"Fine," she grimaced, "But Atem? You owe me some explanations. Because this all seems absolutely crazy to me, but you seem to be taking everything in stride."

He nodded, before turning back to the stranger as he inserted his deck into the disk. "Alright, get ready, whoever you are. It's time to duel!"

* * *

Ana was completely and utterly confounded. What the hell was going on? Since when did purse snatchers start negotiating through card games? And why was this guy so interested in a chunky necklace? She felt like there was whole lot she was missing, and she did not like that feeling.

She held her breath as she watched Atem and the stranger start their duel. It was just a game, but for some inexplicable reason, it felt more serious than that, never mind the material stakes put on the match. Not only that, she felt even more annoyed because she had been looking forward to watching her friend duel, but not like this.

"First, let's make this interesting, shall we?" the stranger drawled. Suddenly, his forehead started…glowing? _Okay, who slipped what into my breakfast this morning?_

Shadows started to creep in and surround them, throwing them into what appeared to be a dark storm. The sun was completely blocked out, and the air became dank and heavy. Ana looked around incredulously. _What the hell is going on?!  
_

"This can't be," Atem breathed, looking just as surprised, though for different reasons. "You need a Millennium Item to invoke a Shadow game. Not only that, I defeated Zorc, the source of all darkness!"

Grey eyes widened even more. _Okay, who slipped what into_ his _breakfast?_

"I'm afraid you've been misinformed, Pharaoh," the thief smirked sinisterly, "You may have defeated Zorc, but you think eliminating the Shadows would be so simple? You cannot have the light without the dark, fool."

Atem scowled. "It still doesn't explain how you were able send us to the Shadow Realm."

"Zorc and the Millennium Items aren't the only ones able to control the Shadows," was the stranger's only response. "Now enough chit chatting. Let's do this." He drew a card.

Ana's mind was still reeling with everything going on. But as much as she was trying to pay attention to the duel, she suddenly found that her vision was getting blurry. Now that she was thinking about it, it was getting hard to breath, too. She put a hand on her laboring chest, and felt herself fall to a knee.

"Ana!" She could hear Atem call, his voice laced with concern.

Unfortunately, she couldn't seem to get enough oxygen in her lungs to respond. Her head started to pound. She felt oppressed on all sides, like the darkness was engulfing her. She realized, though, that this actually felt familiar.

 _It's like…the shadows…in my dream_ … she thought before her vision went completely black and she fell to the floor.

" _Ana!"_

* * *

"What have you done to her!?" Atem shouted, running over to the girl and propping her up in his arms.

"Nothing. Apparently, she was too weak for my Shadow Realm," the thief smirked. "Now hurry up and make your move. We're in the middle of a duel."

Atem narrowed his eyes. "You'll pay for this," he growled. Carefully, he picked Ana up and carried her to the nearby wall, setting her gently against it. "Don't worry," he whispered to her, "I'll take care of this."

He stood up and strode purposefully back to his place in the duel, where the thief and his monster awaited.

* * *

 _Horror filled her entire being as she watched the demon approach the city. It was massive, and none of their most powerful monsters were even making a scratch on it. What was worse, the Millennium Items were scattered, and without his Pendant, Atem could not summon the Egyptian Gods._

 _Dark shadows crept over the valley with the beast. She grit her teeth, and looked down at her dia dhank. She did not have much power left, but she had to buy Mana and Isis time. They had to get the Pendant back to Atem._

 _She ran forward, toward the creature, holding her arm high._

" _Wait, Ana, stop!" she could hear his voice calling her back, but she only responded by throwing a reassuring smile over her shoulder._ Don't worry, I'll be back, _it said. She took one more look into those amethyst eyes, before summoning her Ka._

" _Come forth, Anuket!" she shouted. Power welled in her, attempting to summon her spirit monster… but then began to fizzle out._ No! _She had overestimated the Ba she had left. She clenched her teeth, determined not to give in. Even if she had to use up the remainder of her Ba, she would make sure her king had the chance to defeat this evil. She had to._

 _Suddenly, her own pendant resting on her breast began to grow warm, filling her spirit with power and strength. Looking down at her dia dhank in surprise, she watched the meter that reflected her Ba grow full again. She smiled and placed a hand over her necklace._

Thank you, Atem…my heart.

* * *

The thief had used some strange monsters and tactics, but Atem had managed to keep the upper hand. However, just as he was about to call an attack with his faithful Dark Magician, he sensed a disturbance behind him.

"Ana!" he exclaimed, turning around to look at the girl. The aura around her was starting to pulse. And…was something appearing on her chest?

"What is happening?" the stranger suddenly exclaimed, reclaiming Atem's attention. Whipping back around, he saw that on the floor next to him, something in Ana's bag had begun to glow. The thief reached into it and pulled out her deck. One of the cards was shining as brilliantly as a star, its light cutting through the darkness. The shadows receded, and sunlight began to pour into the room again.

"No! My Shadow Game!"

Atem watched all this incredulously, before looking back at Ana, who was beginning to stir. Grey eyes opened slowly and dazedly. "What happened?"

"This can't be!" the stranger shouted, "How did she dispel the Shadows?"

The former pharaoh was just was bewildered, but couldn't help but smirk. "Looks like none of this is going your way. And it's still my turn – I activate Diffusion Wave Motion! At the price of 1000 life points, this allows my Dark Magician to attack all three of your monsters, finishing off the rest of your life points. Dark Magician, attack! Wipe him out!"

The thief screamed in defiance as his life points hit zero, and the holograms dissolved from the field.

"Aw, I missed the duel?" Atem could hear Ana behind him, making him smile.

"You should be grateful," he told the stranger, "If this had still been your Shadow Game the consequences of your loss would have been severe. Instead, hand Ana's bag over and you may go."

The thief tossed the bag over, but kept the deck that he still gripped in his hand. "If you want it so bad, here!" he spat, before taking off for the exit. His get-away was stopped, though, by Ana standing defiantly in doorway.

"Not so fast, buster. Give me back my deck!"

"I don't think so, girl, now get out of my way!" he lunged at her, making Atem's eyes widen in concern.

"Ana!"

However, Ana easily dodged the arm swinging her way. Grabbing the outstretched arm as the fist flew past her, she quickly threw the man over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground and scattering her cards across the floor. "Great, now I have to pick them all up," she murmured. "Atem, would you mind calling the police?"

"Oh, uh, of course," Atem blinked, still a little surprised at what he had just witnessed. He pulled out the phone he had purchased a few days ago.

"Oh no you don- " the perpetrator was about to protest, before Ana interrupted him by pushing a heel down onto his collar bone, making his shout in pain.

"Just shush. You tried to steal from me, then you lost at your own game, and now you're just complaining," Ana told him unsympathetically.

Atem couldn't help but smile as he spoke into the phone. She certainly was something else.

* * *

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the police to come. Ana and Atem both gave a them a brief statement (they both decided to leave out the supernatural parts of the story. Atem because he knew it was prudent, Ana because she wasn't even sure if they would believe her), and soon enough they were free to go.

"That was certainly an exciting morning," Atem remarked, "Do you still want to eat?"

"Sure," Ana replied, "And besides, you owe me some explanations. What was all that?"

"Um, let's wait until we sit down," he proposed. He needed some time to figure out how much he should tell her. He wasn't sure how much she remembered, or what her role in this was. Plus, he wasn't sure how much she would believe, anyway.

She agreed, and they made their way toward the more populous area of the city. Deciding on a simple sandwich place, Atem couldn't help himself from mentioning as they ordered, "I was impressed with how well you handled that thief as he was trying to escape."

Ana smiled and shrugged. "Oh, well, both Sarra and I went through a lot of self-defense training. My aunt and uncle were pretty adamant that we could protect ourselves."

"Very smart," he remarked as they sat down.

"So, are you going to start giving me some answers?"

Atem took a sip of his drink. "What do you want to know?" he asked carefully.

"First, what's so special about that necklace that he wanted it so bad? And why did he have to _duel_ you for it?" she asked, pointing to his Puzzle.

He held it up. "This is no ordinary piece of jewelry," he explained. "It's actually an ancient Egyptian artifact called the Millennium Puzzle."

"Is it one of those Millennium Items you mentioned?"

He nodded. "Yes. There are seven total. This one seems to be highly sought after, although they are all powerful in their own right."

"Powerful?" Ana repeated.

He nodded "Each of them have special abilities." He watched her carefully. He knew that to a lot of people, what he was saying sounded more than farfetched. It was one of those things where seeing was believing. But he wasn't sure how much she remembered from before she passed out, and if she was ready to open her mind to the occult.

Ana put a hand to her temple and massaged it. "If you had told me this a couple hours ago, I would have called you crazy. You're essentially talking about _magic,_ here. But…I remember the weird shadow thing we were in right before I passed out," she said, answering Atem's silent question. "It was like we were sent to another _world_. And unless Sarra slipped something into my breakfast this morning, I wasn't hallucinating. What was that?"

"It's called the Shadow Realm. It's a place where dangerous games are played, with serious consequences," he told her.

"And you've been there before," she surmised.

"Yes, many times. Many enemies have been after my Puzzle, and many of them have tried to use that dark world to get it from me."

"But it wasn't there when I woke up."

He nodded. "Something appeared to dispel it just as I was about to win the duel."

"Why does Duel Monsters seem to be so important to all this? I mean, it's just a card game." She pulled out her deck and looked at the cards contemplatively.

"In Ancient Egypt, high ranked individuals used to duel each other with similar monsters, except they were on stone tablets, and the monsters were very real. Pegasus discovered these tablets, and based his game off of them. Now, in the modern era, battles involving the Ancient Egyptian artifacts and powers are done using Duel Monsters."

"How do you know all of this?" Ana asked, looking very much like she was still processing everything.

He internally sighed. This was something he still hadn't decided on yet. Should he tell her that he was actually from those ancient times? A pharaoh who had sealed himself into the Millennium Puzzle, living as a spirit inside of it for millennia?

* * *

Ana could see Atem was mentally debating whether to tell her. She understood – he was probably trying to decide whether she would think him crazy. Honestly, she probably would have already thought him crazy, just with his answers so far.

If it hadn't been for that other dream she'd had while she had been passed out.

It felt similar to the dreams she'd been having for years now, and the darkness she remembered approaching from that monster had felt just like the darkness she felt in her last dream. But this vision had been different in that it felt so _real_. Much more real than any of her other dreams. Almost like a memory.

But what _really_ freaked her out about the dream was the fact that Atem was in it.

Not someone who looked like him. It _was_ Atem, with that same olive skin tone, distinctive hair, and strong violet gaze. And his voice. Now, she realized it was the same voice she'd hear almost every night. The voice of the man who would given that pendant to her. The same pendant she'd worn in this dream as well. But it couldn't be the same person, could it? In her dream, Atem was a king, gilded in gold and regal.

 _Well, the thief did keep calling him "Pharaoh"…_

But, was Atem really the person she'd been searching for? Something in her gut told her 'yes', but her brain was arguing with her the whole way. All this just seemed so crazy.

"I'm…not sure if you're ready to hear my answer to that," Atem finally answered. Ana looked searchingly into his eyes, and he did not look away. A part of her wanted to make him tell her, but another part of her, a larger part, acknowledged that he was probably right. She had a lot to process already.

"Alright, fine," she agreed. "But I still feel like I need more answers."

"Maybe, instead," Atem hesitantly proposed, "I could help you discover them? There is a lot I don't know either, Ana, and I think I am looking for the same answers you are."

They continued to gaze into each other eyes, before Ana finally broke the connection and smiled. "You know? I have a feeling you're right."

He gave her a gentle smile in return.

By that point, their food was ready, and they briefly paused their conversation to get their meals.

"One thing I'm really curious about, though," Ana said as she nibbled some fries, "is why this guy seemed to care about my deck more than anything else in my bag, including my wallet."

"Yes, well, I have a theory it has to do with your Light of the Goddess card," he said, reaching over to pluck the card from her deck. Flipping it face up on the table, the two of them looked at the phoenix pendant on it contemplatively. "He did say he was waiting for us at that store. With what we learned about it in the shop, and added to the thief's desire for it, it appears this is more than a normal card."

Ana nodded. "I agree." She'd always known that, though, because of that fact she had been dreaming about the necklace before she'd even seen the card.

"And…I believe it might have been this card that dispelled the Shadow Realm," he continued.

Ana blinked. "Really?"

"Yes, just before you woke, it started to glow, and its light, I think, is what drove away the Shadows."

She hummed, and let her fingers lightly trace the image on the card. She wondered if that had anything to do with the flood of energy she had felt come from her pendant in her dream.

"He mentioned a 'master'. That means there's probably more of them. Do you think they'll come after it, again?" she asked.

Atem frowned. "I would say there is a good chance," he admitted. Ana frowned as well, still gazing at the card. Her life in Domino City appeared to be getting much more complicated. A large tan hand moved to cover hers, its warmth reassuring. She looked up in surprise. "If they do, I promise I'll be there to help," he declared, his voice resolute.

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Atem."

* * *

When Atem returned to the Muto's game shop, he found Yugi playing some video games in the living room. His partner looked up though when he entered the room. "Oh, you're back? How was it?"

"Well…" Atem said hesitantly, seating himself on the couch.

Concerned, Yugi powered the game off and gave the former pharaoh his full attention. "What happened?"

Atem told him everything they had found out at the card trading store, as well as everything that had happened after. Yugi listened with wide-eyed shock, and after Atem was done, he didn't appear to know how to react for a while.

"Well…you certainly had an eventful day," he eventually said. "Are you okay?"

The taller boy nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."

"How about Ana?

"Yes, she's fine, too."

Yugi smiled. "Then I suppose we should have expected something like this to happen at some point. I mean, we're always going from one world-jeopardizing situation to another, aren't we?"

Atem smirked. "Yes, I suppose so."

"How did Ana take all of this? What did you tell her?"

"I told her about the Millennium Items and the Shadow Realm, but not much else. I wasn't sure how much she was ready to learn. But now I'm almost positive Ana is the girl we're looking for. Even though it was the Light of the Goddess that dispelled the Shadows, the card was reacting to _her_ ," Atem said, remembering the girl's pulsating aura before the card had reacted. He also recalled the faint outline of _something_ around her neck, something familiar.

"Yeah, and that card is definitely no ordinary card. I can't believe there's only one in the world, and no one's heard of it," Yugi remarked.

"Ana had," Atem corrected, "But just like I had the wrong memory of how we got the card, she appears to have the wrong memory of how she discovered it."

"Wrong memory?"

"Yes," the tanned boy nodded, "It's not that we don't remember, it's that our memories are _wrong_. But I think that actually makes sense."

"You do?" Larger purple eyes blinked in confusion.

Atem nodded. "Remember, since regaining my memories, I have no sense of there being any gaps. Mahad told us that the girl sacrificed her name, memories, and _my_ memories of her in order to seal this evil. I think instead of wiping them, like the spell I cast to seal Zorc, her spell _replaced_ them, so that we wouldn't even feel their absence."

"But you're starting to remember," Yugi pointed out.

"Yes, and, I believe, so is she. I don't know what that means though. We might never know, without the details of the spell. The question is, how can we discern our real memories from the fake ones?"

The king of games sighed and sank back into the couch. "And I thought things were complicated when you _didn't_ remember anything."

Atem chuckled. "Indeed."

"Well, it sounds like the two of you are the keys to each other's pasts. Maybe spending more time together will help you unlock them."

"Perhaps," he agreed. "I also had another idea. I was going call Ishizu and ask her if she'd be willing to send the tablets back over to Domino City's museum temporarily. Maybe there are more clues hidden in it that we haven't seen, and it might trigger more memories for Ana."

Yugi nodded. "I think that's a good idea. And who knows – the Ishtars said they would try to uncover more clues for us. Maybe they've discovered something."

"Maybe."

"How about the thief? Were you able to get any information from him?" Yugi asked.

Atem shook his head. "No, he wasn't very talkative during our duel, or after. He spoke of a 'master', though, so I'm certain there are more of his lot." Atem paused for a moment. "There was one thing I noticed, though. He had a mark on his forehead, and it appeared to have some role in how he was able to call a Shadow game."

"What did the mark look like?"

Atem leaned over and picked up a pencil from the coffee table, and started drawing on an errant sheet of paper. He sketched what looked like a serpent, coiled into a looped knot.

Yugi stared, eyes wide with shock. "Are you sure this is what you saw?" he asked.

His 'brother' looked at him in surprise. "Yes, I made sure to take a good look before the police took him away. Why? Do you recognize it?"

Yugi looked back at him probingly. "Yes, and so should you. We saw it yesterday."

"We did?!"

"In class? During our history lesson? You weren't paying attention, were you."

"Uh…"

Yugi shook his head. "You're not going to catch up if you don't pay attention in class, Atem."

Atem let his eyes drop uncomfortably. "Yugi… I don't need to."

"Sure you do. I know you're smart but even you have to study a little."

The former spirit shook his head. "That's not what I mean. Yugi, you're forgetting," he said gently, "I don't belong here. Eventually, my spirit will return to the afterlife."

Yugi's eyes widened, before they dimmed sadly. "…Oh."

Atem sighed, and placed a hand on his partner's shoulder comfortingly. "You knew that, Yugi," he reminded him softly.

The shorter boy dropped his head. "I know, I know I did. It's just, it's so easy to forget, you know? You're here, in your own body, using your true name, hanging out with our friends and going to school. It just feels _right_ , like this is how it should be."

Atem shook his head. "But it isn't. I died millennia ago, Yugi."

"I know that. I just…I don't see why you can't stay," Yugi's eyes looked mournfully at him, and Atem felt guilt begin to bubble in his stomach.

It wasn't that he didn't want to spend more time with Yugi and the others. He did. He would miss them dearly when he left. But, he couldn't stay – that wasn't the natural order of things. He belonged in the afterlife.

He ignored the part of his heart that tried to convince him otherwise.

* * *

Ana crept as quietly as she could past her sister's door into her own room. Normally she hated keeping secrets from her, but honestly the day's events were still reeling through her mind and she wasn't even sure how much Sarra would believe. She needed time to process things. Starting with a little research.

Sitting at her desk, she powered on her laptop and opened her internet browser. Her fingers flying across the keys, she first searched 'Millennium Items'.

Not much came up. There were only a couple news articles of an expedition in the 60s, when the Millennium Puzzle was discovered. Reading through the articles, Ana saw the team had been led by Dr. Muto, explaining how the puzzle came into Atem's possession, she supposed. But what she was more interested in was that, apparently, Dr. Muto had been the only one to survive the foray into that particular tomb. The tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh.

She frowned. There was no mention of the other Millennium items though. Or that anyone even knew there were others. Tapping her fingers against her desk, she finally raised them back to her keyboard and typed a new search.

'Shadow Game, Egypt'.

This one came up with a few more results. Dr. Arthur Hawkins, a colleague of Dr. Muto, in fact, had drawn a lot of attention a little over a decade ago, proposing that in Ancient times, Egyptians played Duel Monsters for real, using magic and a power known as the Shadow Realm. Most of the articles were fairly derogatory, mocking Dr. Hawkins for his obtuse theories, and after a while it appeared Dr. Hawkins quietly let his discoveries lay to rest. Until less than a year ago, when an Egyptian family revealed they had evidence that his theories were true. Two tablets, one of which was titled the Tablet of Lost Memories, were temporarily lent for a special exhibit right here in the Domino City Museum. However, only a few people had been given access to them, and she couldn't find any more reports on their contents.

She sighed, leaning back against her chair. Her research so far confirmed for her that today was not a hallucination, and that Atem was not crazy. The world might not agree, but she knew what she saw, and Atem's words made more sense than they didn't. Plus, her dreams…

Slowly, she replaced her hands on her keyboard and typed 'Egyptian King Atem.' Hesitating for a moment, she finally held her breath and hit [Enter].

Nothing.

 _Dammit_ , she scowled. Shaking her head, she scolded herself, _Did you actually think you would find out that your classmate was really some Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, Ana? That he's the man from your dreams?_

 _Well, he could still be,_ another part of her argued, _I just don't know how real my dreams are_.

The gears in her head turning, she tried another search. 'The Nameless Pharaoh'.

That, at least, got her a Wikipedia page. Clicking on the link, she read that he had ruled Egypt approximately five thousand years ago. But his rule was one of the shortest on record, lasting only a few days after his coronation. No one knew what happened to him, only that he had abdicated to his cousin, Seto. No one was even sure of when he had died. What was stranger was that all records of his name seemed to have been eradicated from any document – stone, papyrus, or otherwise – from that time, thus earning him the moniker The Nameless Pharaoh. And yet, for so short a reign, his tomb was one of the most protected constructs in the Valley of Kings, and the carvings within spoke of his great and heroic deeds.

Pressing her fingers into her temples, she tried to stymie her racing thoughts. _Could it be?_

She scrolled to the bottom of the article, where his heritage was listed. "Father and Predecessor – Aknamkanon". She stared at the name, something in the back of her mind itching to come forward, similar to the first time she'd heard Atem's voice. She tried to focus on that feeling, bring it forward…

Suddenly, her temples throbbed under her fingers, and pain shot through her head. Clenching her eyes, she saw indistinguishable flashes on the backs of her lids, brief bursts of gold and heat. Blindly pushing herself away from her desk, she fell onto her bed, cradling her head.

Finally, the pain subsided. Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling, panting. What was that? She had never been one prone to headaches. Maybe, with everything that happened today, her brain had decided to call it quits.

Allowing her eyes to gently fall closed again, she couldn't help but run through her day one more time. Even with all the craziness that happened, there had been bright spots. She really was growing comfortable around Atem, and enjoyed spending time with him. She'd had fun. And when he had told her he'd be there to help her, she believed him.

* * *

That evening, Atem and Yugi made a call to the Ishtars. They easily agreed to send over the asked for tablets. Even better, they had apparently found a clue.

"You did?" Yugi asked happily.

In front of the webcam, Ishizu nodded. "Odion and I noted that there appeared to be something large missing from the original wall that used to house the Tablet of Lost Memories. Perhaps even another carving. So we searched through our family records. We had to go all the way to when our clan was first appointed to protect the tomb of the Pharaoh, but we finally discovered something."

"What is it?"

"With the help of the Millennium Necklace," she continued, "we were able to discern that shortly after the Pharaoh sacrificed himself, thieves raided his tomb and managed to steal an important tablet. It was this theft that prompted King Seto to appoint our family to protect the tomb, and the Millennium Items. Perhaps this was related to the new evil that manifested after you sacrificed yourself, my Pharaoh."

Atem frowned. "But we have no idea what was on that tablet, or who stole it," he stated.

Ishuzu nodded. "Unfortunately. I am sorry, but that was all we could find."

He shook his head. "No, thank you for your help."

"Pharaoh," Marik cut in, "You said you believe you found the girl that Mahad spoke of?"

"Yes, her name is Ana Schuyler. She has already triggered some memories for me, and it appears she shares a unique connection with a special card," Atem told them.

"Special card?"

Atem nodded at Yugi, who, with a few taps of the keyboard, beamed them a digital image of the Light of the Goddess card.

"It is apparently a unique card - the only one in the world, like the Egyptian Gods. What's even more unusual are our experiences with it." He explained the 'mistaken' memories, the Shadow game from earlier in the day, and how the card appeared to react to Ana's power to banish it.

Ishizu was looking at the image with a strange expression. Marik noticed his sister's odd behavior. "Do you recognize it, Ishizu?"

"…Maybe." she mused. She looked back at the webcam. "I will search our records more thoroughly, and I'll contact the Domino City museum with regards to sending over the tablets once more. In the meantime, please be careful, my Pharaoh."

"Of course," he nodded, "Thank you, Ishizu, Marik, Odion."

The Ishtars gave their own nods in return, and the video cut out.

"I feel like Ishizu did recognize the card, Atem," Yugi commented, pushing away from the computer desk.

"I agree. However, she's always had her reasons for not divulging certain pieces of information. Remember, she's seen far more than we could ever fathom while she held the Millennium Necklace in her possession," the former king replied, touching his own Millennium Item.

"True. I guess we have our own research to conduct too. Maybe our history teacher will know more about that symbol you saw," Yugi said. "It's too bad Grandpa is out for the weekend. We could have asked him."

Atem smiled. "He appeared excited for his trip, though he wouldn't tell us where he was going."

The shorter boy sighed. "Yeah, which makes me nervous."

"Your grandfather will be fine, and he deserves a vacation."

"I know, but I can't help but worry," Yugi frowned, "He's not as young as he used to be, though he insists on acting like it."

The ex-spirit chuckled, "Well, he's younger than I am, and I'm still feeling fairly spry."

Yugi gave him an exasperated look, though his lips twitched with amusement, before he suddenly smiled. "Oh really, is that what you told Ana?"

" _Yugi_."

* * *

 _That feeling of warmth and safety had settled on her breast again, and she looked down, knowing what she'd find. She fingered the pendant gently._

" _With this, we'll always be connected," that deep voice whispered again. This time, though, when she looked over her shoulder, her eyes met familiar amethyst ones. He smiled warmly at her, and she felt arms winding around her waist from behind. She smiled in return, and moved to rest her hand over his hold, but before her fingers could touch his, his image dissolved, scattering to the winds._

" _Atem!" she shouted, reaching for where he had stood, but there was no answer. She felt a hole open in her chest, leaving her feeling bereft._

 _And then, she fell into the Shadows._

Ana shot up from bed once more, panting. It took a few moments before she became fully alert, but once she did, she groaned, tipping her head back onto her headboard. _Okay, well, that answers that_ , she thought. It appeared Atem _was_ the person she had been looking for from her dreams, or at least, her subconscious believed it to be so. But she still didn't know what it meant. Why was she dreaming of _Atem_?

She pressed fingers to hot cheeks. This time, her dream-Atem had been more…affectionate. She could still feel the ghost of his warmth against her back, and his strong arms around her waist.

Shaking her head, she made herself think of other parts of her dream. The Shadows she fell into, they definitely gave the same feeling as the Shadows from Atem's duel with that thief yesterday. And Atem himself had been wearing the same type of clothes as he had in that vision, the one she had while knocked out – gilded in gold like a king. But what did all this mean? How did everything relate?

Her temples were starting to itch. Grimacing, she looked around. Daylight was only just starting to stream in through her windows. She huffed to herself and threw off her covers. She needed to work off some steam.

* * *

When Atem awoke that morning, it was still sunrise. He quietly got out of bed and pulled on a sleeveless hoodie and track pants, and then finally a pair of sneakers. At first, he had felt guilty when Yugi's grandfather had bought him all these things to make him feel comfortable, knowing that the Muto's weren't the wealthiest of families. However, Yugi confessed to him that the Ishtars had given his grandfathers some funds, thinking of just that, which put Atem at ease.

As silently as he could, he made his way downstairs and out of the store. He knew Yugi was a fairly light sleeper, and didn't want to wake him, knowing that he tended to allow himself to sleep in Sunday mornings. Atem himself probably could have used some more sleep, but maybe because of all that time he spent locked in the Puzzle, alone, with very little to do, he found himself unable to sleep too late.

Instead, he found he enjoyed going out in the mornings for a light jog. The cool temperature felt refreshing against his skin, and he enjoyed the sounds of the waking city. Besides, back during his days in Egypt, his father had him keep to a strict combat training schedule, so he was used to the exercise. Bending over, he took a moment to stretch, aware that he could not simply rely on the powers of the Puzzle to care for this body, before taking off.

He had reached the park and was about twenty minutes into his run before he happened upon someone familiar.

"Hey Atem!" she called, waving.

"Tea," Atem blinked, slowing down as they met on the path. "Good morning."

"Good morning!" she chirped. "So, you like early runs, too?"

"Yes, I've been going every day," he told her. "I'm surprised to see you. Wouldn't you like to sleep in on the weekends?"

She shrugged. "Probably, but my dance instructor is pretty strict on conditioning."

"I see."

"Shall we?" she proposed, gesturing down the trail, and they took off again.

"So," she said hesitantly, grabbing his attention, "Um, how was your day with Ana yesterday? Did you find anything out?"

"Yes," he answered, "but Yugi and I thought we'd catch the whole group up later today."

"Did something happen at that store?" she asked, looking worried.

"I'll explain later, but everything's fine for now," he said simply.

"Oh, okay, that's good." She hesitated a moment, before finally asking, "Did you do anything else with Ana?"

Atem, however, didn't notice anything wrong and answered easily, "Yes, I showed her around the city and we ate lunch together."

"Oh, I see. Um, that sounds nice," Tea responded, her voice slightly forced.

He attributed that to the exercise though and smiled, "Yes, even with everything that happened, I had a good time."

Tea was oddly silent after that, so they simply continued their jog. Eventually, they reached area where the park met the water, and Atem was once again surprised to see a familiar figure along the edge.

"Hey, is that Ana?" Tea commented, seeing her as well.

It was. She appeared to be practicing some martial arts forms, her body lithe and graceful. Atem grinned and jogged ahead to meet her. He didn't notice Tea's slightly disappointed expression.

* * *

 _One. Two. Three…_ She counted in her head as her limbs moved through the air. The dojo she usually visited wasn't open this early on a Sunday, so Ana had come to the park to practice on her own. It would have been better if she had something to train with, but she wasn't about to go punching random trees. Instead, she decided to settle by the water, which was quickly becoming her favorite part of the city, and enjoy the calming atmosphere as she trained.

 _Five. Six. Seven. Eight—_ her leg swung around in a round house kick, only for her to realize there had been someone behind her. Her foot stopped inches away from what should have been his face, but it appeared he had reacted just as fast, for his arm was poised to block.

"Atem!" She gasped, quickly dropping her leg. "What are you doing here? Also, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that. I could have knocked your lights out."

He grinned. "I'm sure," he said, putting his own arm down. "I was jogging through the park. Tea is here as well."

"Tea?" Ana repeated, looking up. Sure enough, there on top of the bank was the brunette, who waved in greeting. Ana waved back.

"Are you practicing?" Atem asked, reclaiming her attention.

"Oh, uh, yeah. My normal dojo wasn't open, and I like the water," she explained, feeling her cheeks tinge slightly in embarrassment. It didn't help that she still hadn't cleared that dream completely from her head. His smile was too similar to her dream-Atem's smile.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" he asked.

She looked at him in surprise. "You know martial arts?"

He shrugged. "Some. I will admit I'm a little rusty. It's been a…while…since I trained properly."

"Oh, well, sure then, I guess," she said, slightly skeptically.

Atem turned around to wave Tea over, who made her way down the bank to meet them. "Good morning, Ana," she said pleasantly.

"Morning," Ana replied.

"Tea, I was going to spar a little with Ana. You're welcome to go ahead without me, and continue your run," Atem told her.

"Oh, that's okay. I was almost done anyway. I'll watch, if you don't mind?" Tea asked, and Atem shook his head in response, before looking at Ana.

Ana, however, had her brow quirked, though at him. "Oh, you wanted to _spar_?"

The tanned boy grinned. "Was I not clear on that?"

She grinned back, challengingly. "Fine."

* * *

Tea made herself comfortable on the grass as Atem and Ana moved to an area that would give them plenty of room on the water bank. "Now, just remember, I'm rusty at this," Atem told her.

She smirked back at him, grey eyes flashing, "Hey, you're the one who wanted to spar, remember?"

"I do, but I'm just saying, let's keep this friendly," he laughed.

"Whatever you say," she responded, still smiling, before lunging at him.

He managed to block the initial swing of her fist, but was less prepared for the kick immediately following it. He jumped back, managing to get away with a graze, and bounced lightly on his feet. He threw a kick of his own, which she easily ducked under, and attempted to surprise her with a swing from the opposite side. She was having none of that, though, and smack an open hand against his chest, forcing him back.

He grinned. This felt _good_ – it wasn't until he got his memories back that he realized how much he missed training. He would spar with Mahad and later Seto almost every day, and he always enjoyed the break it had provided from his other studies. He had been better with a sword, but he did fine in hand to hand combat as well.

However, as he had said, he was rusty, and it wasn't hard to tell Ana clearly had the upper hand. Most of the time it was all he could do to block or dodge her attacks. At least he was holding his own, and he could see that she was slightly impressed.

She appeared to be enjoying herself as well. Her stormy eyes were dancing merrily, and there was a healthy flush to her cheeks as they exchanged blows. He couldn't help but watch her expressions with fascination. It was like he'd seen it before…

Suddenly, his vision flashed. Once again, he saw tanner limbs flying toward him, but this time the surroundings changed too. Instead of the lake he saw sandstone and columns. And in the corner of his eye he saw two familiar figures under the shade of one of the awnings.

 _"Go, Ana! Trounce him!"_ Mana was cheering.

He blinked furiously to dispel the vision, distracted, and unfortunately the kick swinging toward him was no hallucination.

 _Smack_.

His vision went black.

* * *

 **A/N** : So, did anyone else notice how incredibly ripped everyone was in the Memory World? I took that to mean that everyone exercised. Which makes sense for the commoners and workers, because they, well, work, but even the nobles and Atem were pretty in shape. And we even got a small flash of Seto training with his father, though he didn't know it at the time, Aknadin. In my head, this was because everyone had to be combat-ready, including royalty, and a strong body meant a strong spirit. So yeah, I hope you don't think my martial arts stuff is too far-fetched. But come on, I mean, even as a spirit, when Atem took over Yugi, he did some pretty amazing physical stuff. Well, yes it's a cartoon, but whatever.

So I have no intention of making Tea a part of a love triangle or whatever. I'm not a big fan of those in general. But I do feel like although I think it's clear her feelings for Yugi were stronger, she did have at least some genuine feelings for Atem, and I thought those deserved addressing. But yeah, like I said, I'm not a big fan of love triangles, so don't expect too much drama in that department.

Oh sorry, one more note. So I'll admit this wasn't intentional, but apparently there was actually an Ancient Egyptian Queen Ana at one point! Has nothing to do with my story, but it _did_ mean I didn't have to look for another name for her in her memories, haha. Actually, I meant to mention this before, but Ana is spelled like that because it's pronounced "ah-na", with a short 'a' (yes, like Ana from Frozen). Along those same lines, Sarra is also pronounced with a short 'a' sound.

Anyway, hew, okay this chapter is done. Hope you guys liked it! Please leave a review with your thoughts! They fuel my muse


	5. The Diadem

**Chapter 5: The Diadem**

"What _happened_?!" Yugi exclaimed when he entered the kitchen that morning.

"I went for a little early morning run," Atem answered, nonchalantly pouring himself some cereal.

"And got slapped in the _face_?" his 'brother' deadpanned, pointing to the former king's rather swollen cheek.

Atem coughed. "Well no, I ran into Tea – "

" _Tea_ slapped you in the face?"

"No. Then we ran into Ana – "

"So _Ana_ slapped you in the face?"

" _Yugi,_ " Atem finally huffed, taking his bowl to the table, "I was not slapped in the face."

"I don't know, it sure looks like it to me," he told him, making his way to the fridge.

"I was _not_ slapped. I was kicked."

"And how is that any better?" Yugi questioned, opening the freezer. He pulled something out and joined him at the table. "Here." He offered the ex-spirit an icepack.

Atem thanked him and gingerly pressed the cold object to his cheek. "It was a spar. I got a little distracted and left myself open for a direct hit."

"From who?"

"Ana."

Yugi looked at his old companion incredulously. "You were sparring with Ana? You spar?"

He sighed. "Yes, I had to learn hand-to-hand combat from my days as prince. I told you yesterday that Ana was trained in self-defense. I thought it'd be interesting to spar."

The King of Games grinned. "So you were beaten, huh?"

The corner of Atem's mouth quirked up. "Yes, well, like I said I was distracted. Though admittedly, I probably would have lost regardless. Just maybe without this souvenir," he shifted the hand that was holding the icepack in way of gesturing to his injury.

"Uh huh. Distracted by what?" Yugi asked.

Atem's eyes turned from humorous to thoughtful. "Another memory, I believe."

"Really? What was it this time?"

"Ana and I were sparring in Ancient Egypt instead. And Mana and Mahad were watching," he told him.

"So, Mana and Mahad knew her?"

"Yes, and it sounded like they were her friends, too."

"I wish Mahad told us more, then," Yugi sighed, "I feel like we're blindly wandering around in the dark here."

"It's likely he couldn't. Remember we really don't know the details of this spell," Atem told him. "But I feel like a pattern is emerging. It's looks like when I experience something that's similar to the memories I'm missing, I get a flash of it. I wonder if Ana has been experiencing the same thing."

"Well, I don't think it's a good idea for you to just go up to her and say, 'Hey, have you been getting random visions of us in Ancient Egypt, lately?'" Yugi said dryly.

"No," Atem agreed, "But maybe there's some way we could find out."

"I'd say that you're already doing it," Yugi remarked, to Atem's surprise.

"What do you mean?"

The shorter boy smiled. "You're already getting her to open up to you, and trust you. That's the best way to go about it, in my opinion."

"Perhaps," the former spirit mused, "but I haven't been doing that intentionally. It's just…I feel comfortable with her. She's feels familiar to me, even though we've just met."

"Well, in a sense, she is," Yugi argued, "Memories might be erasable with magic or whatever, but the connections we form with others are not. Just look at all we've been through."

The corners of Atem's lips turned up. "You're right, of course."

Yugi grinned back. "And it's sounding like you and Ana, whoever Ana was back then, were really close."

"Yes," Atem mused, lowering the ice pack, "It makes me wonder what she was to me back then. I doubt she was a Guardian. Even if our memories are supposedly replaced with false ones, if she had a connection with any of the Millennium Items, I think I would be able to sense it."

"Maybe she was an apprentice magician, like Mana," Yugi suggested, getting up to gather his own breakfast.

"Maybe…" The former king fiddled with the edges of the melting compress. "But I don't think so. Since regaining my memories, I've realized that a lot of the mysterious connections I've felt with random people while I was a spirit existed because of their link to me in my past. Kaiba, the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, even Ishizu. With Ana…there's just something…different."

"Well, I guess the only thing we can do for now is try to get as many of your memories back as possible," Yugi said, pouring out his own cereal. "Hopefully we'll uncover some answers."

"Hm," Atem hummed in agreement.

* * *

"You _what_?" Sarra exclaimed.

"I…might have kicked Atem in the head today," Ana repeated nonchalantly as she cooked them breakfast.

"... _Why_?"

"We were sparring," she told her sister defensively.

"Sparring? Atem can fight?"

"Yes, apparently. He was actually pretty good." Ana flipped their eggs with a skilled flick of the wrist, before sliding them on to the plates.

"Clearly not that good if he's getting kicked in the head," Sarra mused as she took their plates and set them on the table. "Is he okay?" Sarra, as Ana's most frequent sparring partner, had experienced Ana's blows many times before.

"Well it seemed like he was weirdly distracted at that moment," the older Schuyler commented, "And yes, he's perfectly fine. He was only out for like a second."

"You knocked him _unconscious?!_ Jeez, was your date yesterday that bad?"

Ana glared. "It was an accident, and it wasn't a date."

Grey eyes glinted mischievously. "He showed you around town, you ate lunch together, _and_ he rescued your bag from a purse snatcher. Sounds like a date to me."

"Date? What date?" A middle-aged women appeared at the foot of the stairs, wrapped in a soft blue robe, dark hair tied in a loose bun.

"Aunt Julia! Uh, good morning," Ana greeted, surprised. "You're not going into work today?"

"I'm going in a little late, today," their aunt told them, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I thought I'd see how you girls are settling in."

"Great!" Sarra exclaimed, eager to share with their guardian. "We've both explored the city a bit, and we've made friends with the King of Games!"

"King of Games?" Julia repeated, blinking in confusion.

"The current Duel Monsters champion," Ana explained, sitting down at the table and starting to eat. "Even Seto hasn't beaten him."

"Oh really?" the older women quirked a brow. "Hmm, interesting. Is he the boy you went on a date with?"

Ana flushed while Sarra giggled. "It wasn't a date. And no, I explored the city a bit with his brother."

"His brother?"

"Atem. He's been studying in Egypt for the past couple years."

"Well, that's nice." Julia sat at the table with her coffee and picked up the morning's paper. "Ana, there's a function in a couple weeks I'd like you to attend."

Ana sighed, putting her fork down. "Aunt Julia…"

"Ana, please, no arguments. It's an important event for the company, and a good opportunity for you to network," Julia told her, not looking up from her newspaper.

"You know I don't care about that."

"Our company needs to show that its future is secure."

"I don't want to take over the company, Aunt Julia."

"You don't know that yet. A lot can happen in a short amount of time, especially during college. And you're not even completely sure that you want to pursue medicine." Her aunt turned the page of her paper, still not looking at her niece directly. Ana wasn't surprised, they've had this discussion several times before. From her place at the table, Sarra was mutely pushing around her eggs.

"I might not know what I want to be, or where my path will take me, but I know I don't want to take over your company, Aunt Julia. I want to make something of myself, on my own," she said slowly.

"You can do so with the company," her aunt argued.

"But I don't _want_ to."

"You feel that way now because you're young and idealistic," she told her, finally looking up from her paper, "In any case, you are coming to this function, Ana. No arguments."

"Aunt Julia – "

"I can go, Aunt," Sarra finally quietly said. Ana looked at her, her gaze a mixture of exasperation and sympathy, for she knew what her aunt's answer would be.

"Sarra, I've told you before, you're too young for these kinds of things, and don't have the experience. I need your older sister," Julia told her niece, not meanly, but not kindly either, and not acknowledging the young girl's crestfallen expression.

That was the thing with Julia, Ana mused to herself. She wasn't a bad guardian by any means, and clearly cared for her nieces, but she wasn't interested in any maternal demonstrations. And though she made sure to check in routinely with them, like she was today, she worked almost constantly. Ana had long accepted this about her aunt, and she was fine with it. Sarra was all the family she needed. Sarra, however, was only five when their parents passed away, and still craved parental attention and nurturing. Ana did her best to fill that role, but she knew it wasn't the same. She didn't resent Julia for her lack of involvement in her niece's lives, but she wished she would show a little more affection toward the younger, more impressionable Sarra.

And she wished she would get off her back in regards to inheriting the company.

"Aunt Julia, what would I even do there? There will be no one my age, and no one will be interested in talking to me," Ana tried to persuade.

"That's not true. You know Seto Kaiba will be there."

"And that's supposed to make me _want_ to go?" she responded drily.

"Aren't you two in the same class? I had hoped you two would get along more by now." Julia quirked her eyebrow in a manner not unlike Ana's.

Ana just gave her a look, to which her aunt shrugged. "I'm sorry, Ana, but you're going to this party. But, tell you what, I'll let you invite a guest to come with you to keep you company. Why don't you invite that boy you apparently went on a date with?" At this, the corner of her aunt's lips twitched up.

Ana groaned. "Not you, too."

* * *

"Well, sounds like we've got another crazy group of weirdos to fight," Joey yawned, stretching his arms from where he sat on Yugi's living room floor. "Nothin' new."

"Since when did you become so blasé about saving the world from evil?" Tristan joked.

"Since we've done it, like, five times already," Joey quipped back. "So other than evil Shadow game-obsessed creepers, how was the date, Atem?" He swung his arm around the former pharaoh's neck with a sly grin.

"Right, Atem. Did you get her number yet?" Tristan slapped a hand onto his spikey head, making him duck.

"Huh? Uh…" Atem stammered, clearly looking embarrassed and awkward.

"And what's this mark on your cheek?"

"Er…"

"Hey, leave him alone, you two," Tea frowned.

Yugi chuckled as the teasing continued, when the bell that indicated someone entering the shop went off. He quietly excused himself and made his way to the front store.

"Sarra?" he said with surprise when he saw who had come.

"Oh, uh, hi Yugi. Sorry for bothering you, I, um, just wanted to come check out the store," the girl said. She was still hovering next to the door, hands behind her back and shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Of course. We are a shop after all, you don't need to apologize for bringing business," Yugi told her cheerfully. "Come on in."

She gave him a small smile, and walked further into the store. She went over to one of the shelves with Duel Monsters cards, and Yugi watched her with concern. Ana and Sarra had been over after school a couple times now in the last week, and each time they had, Sarra had always been bubbly, and bursting with energy. Today, though, the young Schuyler was quiet, somber, and clearly troubled. Her eyes perused the card selection with clear half-heartedness, and her shoulders were slumped gloomily.

Yugi approached her hesitantly. "Uh, Sarra, are you alright? Is something the matter?"

She gave him a small smile. "No, I'm fine, Yugi. Thank you for asking, though."

He frowned. Clearly there was something wrong, but he wasn't sure if he should press the issue. He hadn't known her for very long, but he still wished there was something he could do.

Maybe there was.

"Hey Sarra, do you want to duel?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Duel?"

"Yeah! Tell you what, why don't you pick one new card from Grandpa's selection here, and we can test it out in a duel. A real duel this time." Yugi smiled.

"Really?" Her expression perked up a little, before falling again. "Oh, but I don't have my duel disk with me."

"That's okay," Yugi assured her. "I can grab Atem's. Go ahead and pick your card, I'll be right back. Also, the others are actually here, too, so we might have an audience."

Sarra's smile was noticeably wider this time. "Alright, thanks Yugi."

Yugi ran upstairs to the living room, and asked his 'brother' for his duel disk as he grabbed his own. Atem tossed it to him, before asking, "What for, may I ask?"

"I'm going to duel Sarra," he said.

The Egyptian blinked. "Sarra is here?"

"Yeah," Yugi replied, opening his Millennium Box to pull out his deck. "She seemed kind of down, so I thought dueling might cheer her up. I said she could test one of Grandpa's new cards. Do you guys want to watch?"

Joey, always up for watching a duel, agreed easily, and the others soon followed. When they all went out to the shop, Sarra was waiting. "Did you pick a card?" Yugi asked.

"Yep!" she chirped.

"It would be unfair for me to see it, so Atem, could you get it for her?"

Atem nodded, grabbed the key from the cash register, and unlocked the case. Sarra pointed to the card she wanted, and Atem smiled. "An excellent choice," he commented, making Yugi curious.

Sarra smiled happily at the praise. "Thank you!"

He pulled out the card and handed it to her, and Sarra shuffled it into her deck. Yugi passed her Atem's duel disk. "Shall we go outside? We can go to the clock tower," he proposed.

"Sounds great," Sarra agreed, and the group set off.

When they reached the square, there were plenty of people milling about, and even a couple other duels going on. It was a bright sunny day, and it was clear many were out to enjoy the weather. Yugi and Sarra found an empty area, and stood an appropriate distance apart to activate the duel disks.

"Yugi, you better not go easy on me!" she called, bouncing on her toes.

Yugi grinned, glad to see that the girl seemed to be in higher spirits already.

* * *

"Why do you think Sarra was feeling down?" Tea asked when the group lined up against the fountain to watch the duel.

"I don't know," Atem said as he watched Yugi and Sarra make their opening moves. "I hope everything is alright." Yugi had summoned Beta, the Magnet Warrior as his first monster, while Sarra had placed a monster face down.

"She seems okay now though," Tristan commented.

"Yes, but Yugi doesn't often make challenges himself," Atem replied.

"Alright, Sarra, I'll summon Alpha, the Magnet Warrior in defense mode. Then I'll attack your face down monster with Beta! Go!" Yugi commanded. The metal monster charged at Sarra's card, which flipped to reveal a petite spellcaster.

"Just a second, Yugi! I activate my face down magic card, Yellow Luster Shield. It raises the defense points of all my monsters so that my Aussa, The Earth Charmer can withstand your attack." A barrier formed around Sarra's monster, repelling Beta's strike. "Then I'll activate my Aussa's special ability. When it is flipped face up, I can take control of one of your Earth monsters as long as my Aussa remains on the field," Sarra declared, and Yugi's Alpha Warrior moved to her side of the field.

"Impressive," Atem commented.

Yugi agreed. "Great move, Sarra! I'll place a couple cards face down and end my turn."

"Thanks, Yugi! I draw!" she swiped a card from her deck. "Now I'll sacrifice my Aussa and your Alpha, the Magnet Warrior, to summon my Cosmo Queen!" A dark, willowy female with an elaborate headdress materialized in front of her.

"Woah, what the hell is that?" Joey commented, "It looks like some sort of freaky space alien."

"That's rude," a voice next to them said, making Joey jump. "Cosmo Queen is a very powerful monster, and it's Sarra's trump card."

Atem turned and smiled. "Ana, I see you've found us."

"Yep, thanks for the text, Atem." The older Schuyler smiled back, after greeting the rest of the group. "I thought something like this might happen, but I wasn't sure where she'd go."

"So something did happen this morning?" Atem asked.

"Kind of. Well yes, but unfortunately it was nothing new. Sarra will be fine; this duel is actually just what she needed." She watched as Sarra called an attack on Yugi's Beta Warrior, reducing his life points.

"They both look like they're having a lot of fun," Tea remarked.

"Yugi does have a knack for cheering people up," Atem added, turning back to the duel himself. His partner had brought back his Beta, the Magnet Warrior with his magic card, Magnet Reverse, before Sarra ended her turn.

Ana smiled appreciatively. "I noticed."

They watched as Yugi then revived Alpha, the Magnet Warrior from the Graveyard with Monster Reborn, and then summoned Gamma, the Magnet Warrior. Atem smirked. He knew where this was going.

"Now I'll combine my three warriors to bring out Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior!" Yugi shouted. His words caught the attention of a couple of passerby's.

"Hey, is that Yugi Muto?"

"Yeah, that's the King of Games!" A small crowd began to form around the match, making Yugi appear slightly flustered. Atem chuckled to himself. The boy really needed to get more comfortable with public appearances, especially now that he couldn't just switch with Atem when he wanted to.

"Aw, he's adorable!" some female voices resounded, and Atem smirked at Tea's visible annoyance. Joey and Tristan, however, were delighted for their friend.

"Hey Yug', hear that? You've got some fans to impress!" Joey called out, grinning.

"Uh…"

"Yeah, show them that 'natural charm'!" Tristan added playfully.

"Aha…" The King of Games looked at the group of girls in panic.

"Yugi? Are you going to continue your turn?" Sarra prompted, giggling.

"Uh, right!" the boy shook his head and refocused on the match, "Valkyrion, attack her Cosmo Queen!"

"Not so fast! Hey Yugi, I'm going to test out that card now," Sarra said, excitement dripping into her voice.

"What card?" Ana wondered.

Atem smiled. "You'll see."

"I discard Sphere Kuriboh from my hand, switching your Valkyrion to defense mode, and therefore stopping your attack!" the younger sister revealed.

"Oh wow, you chose Sphere Kuriboh? That was a great choice, Sarra!" Yugi told her.

"What are they talking about? Where did Sarra get that card?" Ana asked the boy next to her.

"Yugi offered to let her test one of our shop's new cards out. Your sister chose Sphere Kuriboh, and she appears to be putting it to good use," Atem explained.

"I guess I have no choice but to end my turn," his partner declared.

"Okay, it's my turn! I draw!" Sarra glanced at the new card, and smiled. "I activate the Ritual Spell: Doriado's blessing! And I'll activate Sphere Kuriboh's other effect – by banishing it from the graveyard I can tribute it and my Petit Dragon from my hand to ritual summon Elemental Mistress Doriado!"

"She's definitely using that card to its full potential," Atem commented, "She's a skilled duelist."

"Yes, she is," Ana replied, pride saturating her voice. The former spirit of the Puzzle smiled, familiar with the feeling. His partner was looking confident, barring the minor hiccup when the crowd gathered, and Atem couldn't be prouder.

Suddenly, his Puzzle's energy pulsed, alerting him that something was awry.

Frowning, he glanced around the spectators suspiciously, and sure enough something caught his eye. Standing apart from the crowd was a man shaded under some of the city trees. While his gaze was just as intent as the other onlookers, his attention was _not_ directed at the match, but rather at Atem? No…at Ana next to him. He narrowed his eyes, looking closer. There! It was that tattoo again, though this one was on his shoulder. This new stranger appeared to be shifting his focus back and forth between both Schuyler sisters.

Quietly, Atem pushed himself off the fountain and shuffled into the crowd. Thankfully, everyone else was too preoccupied with the duel to notice his absence. Only Ana flicked her eyes toward him as he left. He shook his head at her and held a finger to his lips. She shrugged, and nodded.

When the tattooed man finally realized that Atem was gone, he quickly whipped around to leave, only to be stopped by the man himself right behind him.

"Going somewhere?" the Ancient Egyptian drawled.

"Pharaoh," the man grunted.

"What do you want with us? Who are you?" Atem demanded.

The stranger, however, only remained silent and bolted. Atem immediately gave chase, and after a few blocks, the man turned into a random alley. When Atem reached the mouth of it, he saw it was a dead end, leaving the man with nowhere to go. But suddenly, the marking on the stranger's shoulder lit up, and shadows began to enshroud the suspect, blurring him from Atem's vision. When the shadows dispersed, he was gone.

Atem scowled and walked over to the spot where the man had disappeared. His foot nudged something on the ground, bringing his attention downward.

 _What's this?_

* * *

"Silent Swordsman, finish off her Cosmo Queen and the rest of her life points!" Yugi commanded, and Sarra's last monster was shattered with a slash of the powerful warrior's sword.

The holograms faded as the Sarra's life points hit zero. "Man, I lost again." She smiled good naturedly. "But thank you so much for the duel. And for letting me test out this card." She walked over to the boy, holding out Sphere Kuriboh in her hand.

Yugi shook his head, "No, you keep it, Sarra."

"Really? But you and Atem already gave me a card," Sarra's eyes were wide in disbelief.

"But you gave that card to Ana, didn't you? You keep this one," he smiled, "as thanks for the great duel."

The girl shook her head, but re-added the card to her deck. "You give cards out like candy, don't you."

"He basically does," Tristan remarked as the group came over. "Joey, Rebecca, that random kid from KaibaLand…"

Yugi only shrugged sheepishly.

"Ana! You're here!" Sarra exclaimed on seeing her sister with the others.

"Yep," Ana chirped, wrapping an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and giving her a small squeeze, "Great duel, sis'. You did well." Sarra glowed at the praise.

Unfortunately, the circle of friends was soon interrupted by the other people that had gathered, everyone buzzing at seeing such an exciting duel on a random Sunday. Yugi embarrassedly signed some autographs (Joey moped over no one recognizing him), and even Sarra basked under some of the attention that was thrown her way.

Eventually, though, Yugi noticed a certain someone's absence. "Hey, where's Atem?" he asked, handing back the last notebook he'd signed.

"He left a little while ago," Ana answered. "I'm not sure why, though."

"That's weird." Yugi frowned with concern, and pulled out his phone. He shot his 'brother' a quick text, and his shoulders relaxed in relief when he received an immediate reply. "He's a few blocks away, he says. He has something to show us," Yugi told everyone.

They all followed him to a random alley, where Atem appeared to be scrutinizing something in his hand.

"What happened, Atem?" Yugi asked.

"I saw another man with the same tattoo as the thief from yesterday," the former spirit explained.

"The weird serpent symbol on his forehead?" Ana asked.

Atem nodded. "He ran from me and I tried to catch him, but he got away."

"From here? How? It's a dead end," Joey remarked.

Atem's eyes flicked to Sarra, then to Ana questioningly. Stormy eyes caught his unspoken question, and she shook her head. Yugi realized she was probably saying that she hadn't told Sarra the more…fantastical parts of what happened yesterday.

"I'm not sure," he finally answered aloud, "but he left this." He held out his hand, showing everyone what it was holding.

"…It looks like some sort of crown, or tiara," Tea observed. Indeed, it was a gold headband of some sort. It reminded Yugi of the crown Atem wore in Ancient Egypt. This one appeared slenderer, however, with some sort of flower inlayed around the sides. Most startlingly was the fact that the familiar Eye of Anubis in its center, instead of being the same gold as the rest of the crown, was a deep, pitch black.

"Yes, it's a diadem," Atem identified, "but I've never seen one like this before."

"Is it a Millennium Item?" Ana asked, coming over to take a closer look.

The boy shook his head. "No. It definitely has some sort of power, though, I can feel it."

"Uh, what are you talking about, Ana? Millennium Item?" Sarra gave her sister a quizzical look.

The older Schuyler was ignoring her, however. Her eyes were locked onto the diadem, a strange expression on her face. "Ana?" Yugi called, brows furrowing in concern.

She ignored him too. It was almost like she didn't even hear him. Her hand was reaching toward the gold circlet in Atem's grasp. When her fingertips touched the dark stone, though, she suddenly let out a pained cry and collapsed.

"Ana!" Atem exclaimed, dropping the diadem to catch her.

"Ana! Hey, what's wrong?!" Sarra also cried out, alarmed, rushing to her sister. She gently tapped Ana's cheek, trying to rouse her. It was useless, though. She was out cold.

* * *

When Ana woke, she was in her bed. She blinked in confusion. What time was it? What _day_ was it? She didn't remember falling asleep.

Judging by the sunlight streaming through her windows, it was afternoon. But that was strange, she hardly ever slept in, let alone past noon. She was in her clothes, but she couldn't recall deciding to take a nap.

Hearing voices downstairs, she got up and went to the living room. She paused in surprise at the sight she was greeted with.

"Woah, what are you all doing here?" At her voice, Yugi, Atem, Joey, Tristan, and Tea all looked over from where they were seated on the couches with her sister.

"Ana! You're up!" Sarra exclaimed with relief, jumping up and running over to give her a hug.

"Uh, yeah, I guess, though I don't really remember taking a nap," Ana said bemusedly, gently hugging her in return.

"What's the last thing you remember, Ana?" Atem asked, amethyst eyes gazing at her seriously.

Ana frowned. What _was_ the last thing she remembered? "Sarra and Yugi dueling, I guess. How did we all end up coming back to my place?"

"You don't remember this?" he held up the gold diadem.

Her eyes widened in realization as it all came flooding back to her. "Oh right! Oh for crying out loud, did I pass out _again?_ " She grimaced.

"We couldn't wake you up so we brought you back home," Sarra told her. "What happened?"

Ana shook her head. "I'm not sure. I just remember really wanting to get a closer look at the diadem."

"Are you okay, though, Ana?" Tea asked the girl, who smiled back reassuringly.

"Yes, I feel completely fine. But I wonder what happened," Ana frowned thoughtfully. She searched her mind as best she could. She recalled feeling drawn to the diadem, almost against her will. It was as if the artifact had been pulling her in, and when she reached out to touch it…

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her head, causing a hiss to escape through her teeth. She clenched her eyes shut and raised her hands to her throbbing temples.

"Ana! Are you okay?" Sarra cried out, alarmed, and Atem jumped up in concern.

"I'm fine," she told her sister weakly. "Just a headache."

The younger girl frowned with concern. "You're not fine. I'm going to buy some aspirin from the store."

"That isn't necessary, Sarra. I'm sure this will pass soon."

Her sister was having none of it, though, and gently pushed her to the open spot on the couch next to Atem. "You sit down. I'll be right back." With that, Sarra grabbed her wallet and ran out of the condo.

Ana sighed, and leaned back into the sofa. Atem touched a hand to her shoulder, causing her to turn to look into concerned violet eyes. "Are you in pain?" he asked, "Can I get you anything?"

She smiled at him. "I'm fine, really. Sarra just tends to overreact." She wasn't lying, and the headache was already fading.

"Do you normally get headaches like that, Ana?" Yugi asked, worry also coloring his voice.

She shook her head. "No. But I don't think this was a random headache. It came when I was trying to remember what had happened when I touched the diadem."

"Do you think the diadem is somehow affecting you?" wondered the King of Games.

"Maybe."

"What I want to know," Atem said, frowning as he stared at the gold piece still in his hand, "is why the stranger dropped this in the first place. He must have done so on purpose. He _wanted_ me to find it."

"Who the hell knows," Joey responded, "but one thing I _do_ know is that I don't trust that thing at all. It gives me the heebie jeebies." He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"Me too," Tristan agreed.

"What should we do with it?" was Tea's question.

"Yugi and I will keep it for now. I don't think Ana should touch it again until we know more about it," the taller brother said, stuffing the item into one of his pockets.

"Fine," Ana shrugged. She didn't want to go near it again either. Like Joey, the diadem sent shivers up her spine, though she wasn't sure why.

"Maybe Ishizu can tell us more about it," Yugi suggested.

"That's a good thought," Atem nodded, "She said she'd contact us again when she arranges for the tablets to be sent over. We can show her then."

"Who's Ishizu? And what tablets?" Ana wondered.

He hesitated a second. "She's someone we know from Egypt. She and her family have a long history with the Millennium Items. They also possess couple of ancient stone carvings, ones that explain much of the history of the Millennium Items and duel monsters."

Ana's eyes widened. "Wait, does that include the Tablet of Lost Memories?"

Amethyst orbs looked at her in surprise. "How did you know that?"

She shifted her gaze away, a little embarrassed. "Um, I might have tried to do a little of my own research last night. I didn't come up with much, but one of the articles mentioned those carvings."

He smiled. "Yes, the Ishtars, Ishizu's family, are responsible for those carvings, including the Tablet of Lost Memories. I've asked her to send them back to Domino City, hoping to find some clues in them."

"I see," Ana said, trying to keep her excitement at bay. She also hoped those tablets would have some answers for her, particularly in regards to Atem's role in all this. She looked around at the group of friends gathered around her. "None of you seem particularly surprised by all this," she couldn't help but observe.

Joey linked his hands together behind his head. "Well, let's just say we're pretty used to really crazy stuff happening around here," he smirked.

"Yeah, insanity is kind of the norm for us," Tristan grinned. Well, that explained why they all seemed so close. She wondered what kind of adventures this group had been on to act so blasé about magical pieces of jewelry.

"Atem told us about what happened yesterday, and the Shadow Game," Tea added.

Ana nodded, and turned back to the dark-skinned boy next to her. "So, you mentioned that the guy you chased had the same tattoo as the thief from yesterday?"

"Yes," Atem responded, "And just like yesterday, it seemed like that tattoo allowed him to control the Shadows. That's how he escaped from the alley."

"Creepy," muttered Joey.

"We definitely need to find out more about that symbol," Yugi said. "Since Grandpa hasn't come back yet, I guess we should start by asking our teacher more about it tomorrow."

"Our teacher?" Tea voiced questioningly.

Yugi pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. On it was a drawing that Ana recognized as the tattoo she had seen on the thief. Her eyes traced the coiled serpent. At the time, because of everything else that had been going on and all the new information her mind was trying to process, she hadn't given the marking much thought. Now that she was looking at it closely, though, she realized she recognized it.

"He showed us this symbol in class yesterday," Yugi continued.

"He did?" Tristan and Joey voiced together. Even Tea looked surprised.

Yugi sighed. "Does no one pay attention in class? Exams aren't too far away, you know, guys."

"I remember," Ana told him. "You're right. But it was slapped on to the projector as just one example of many symbols from Ancient Egypt, Yugi. Our teacher probably doesn't know anything specific about it."

"Well, we have to start somewhere," the spikey haired boy frowned.

Ana looked over at Atem. "Do you have any contacts from Egypt that might know something about this symbol?"

He shifted uncomfortably, throwing a nervous glance at his brother, who gave a tiny shrug. Ana frowned, once again getting that feeling that she was missing something. "I suppose we could try calling Dr. Hawkins," Atem finally said.

"Oh yeah," Yugi realized, "Grandpa must have his number lying around the house somewhere."

"You mean Rebecca didn't sneak it to you?" Joey grinned, snickering.

" _Joey,_ " his friend sighed, though Ana noticed the flush rising in his face.

"Yeah, I thought you were supposed to call every weekend, _darling_ ," Tristan added, his smile equally as mischievous.

Ana looked over to Atem in bewilderment, and mouthed 'Who's Rebecca?'. The boy only smiled and shook his head.

* * *

Atem watched contentedly as Yugi became the new target of Joey and Tristan's teasing, until Tea, clearly annoyed at the boy's antics, forcefully turned towards Ana and said with a strained smile, "So, Ana, this place is really nice. Are you all settled in?"

"Uh, yes, pretty much. Sarra and I are pretty efficient at unpacking now," she responded.

"Yeah, this is a sweet place, Ana. And huge! For a condo at least," Joey slid off the couch to sprawl out on the floor.

"I really like the art in here," Tea remarked, looking at the various paintings and sketches hanging on the walls. "Where did you get these?"

Ana blushed. "Um, I made them."

"You drew and painted all these?" Yugi exclaimed. He examined a painting of a field of tulips by the window.

"Most of them," Ana admitted. "I don't paint much now, but in middle school I was pretty prolific."

"Why did you stop?" Atem asked, also impressed. His eyes wandered over the various canvases, admiring the color and vibrancy.

She shrugged. "I got too busy, I guess."

"That's a shame," Atem murmured, continuing his perusal. Something about the paintings struck a chord with him. There was one in particular, of a walled garden, that his gaze kept returning to. Lush foliage and flora climbed one particular stone wall, wrapping around a mysterious archway. The view through the arch was obscured by dark ferns. Once again, he was felt that odd sensation of familiarity, as if he should recognize that view…

"Ana, I'm back!" Sarra called, re-entering the living room with a plastic shopping bag in hand. "Here, take this," she handed her sister a pill box and a small water bottle.

Ana smiled. "Thank you, Sarra." She took the aspirin.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the younger girl voiced, her expression still concerned.

"I'm _fine_ , seriously. Stop worrying," Ana poked her sister in the side, making her squeak and jump back.

"Hey! Well, maybe I shouldn't have gone through all the trouble of getting your favorite ice cream then," Sarra pouted.

"Wait, actually…"

Atem smiled at the sibling's antics, and glanced at the clock. "Yugi, we should probably go. It's late," he told his partner.

"I suppose you're right," Yugi agreed, "It's time for dinner."

"No wonder I'm starving," Joey remarked, stretching as he stood.

"You're _always_ hungry, Joey," Tea deadpanned, also getting up.

"Wait a second, everyone," Sarra stopped them. "Why don't you all stay here for dinner?"

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Really? Are you sure? That's really generous of you. I know we came here kind of all of a sudden…"

Sarra shook her head. "You've already had us over several times. It's our turn, right Ana?" She turned to look probingly at her older sister.

Ana smiled and stood, walking over to stand next to her. "Sarra's right. You all are welcome to stay, it's our turn to host."

"I don't know," Yugi glanced uncertainly at Atem.

"Ana is a great cook…" Sarra grinned persuasively.

"I'm in!" Joey and Tristan immediately chimed, giving each other a high-five and making both sisters laugh.

Atem let out a chuckle of his own and shrugged at Yugi, as if to say 'Oh well.' It might have been a strange weekend, but he had a feeling that the Schuyler sisters would be wonderful friends.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi all! Sorry for missing an update last week. Things have been a little crazy in real life. Also, this chapter was hard to get out for some reason. Hope it's not too boring. We'll get to more exciting stuff next, I promise.

As always, please leave your thoughts in a review! I'd really enjoy hearing from you!


	6. Preparations

**Chapter 6: Preparations**

"Alright, so any representatives whose classes have yet to get their activities for the festival finalized, please hang around," the council rep told them at the end of their meeting. "Everyone else can go. Don't forget to hand out these forms to your classmates tomorrow, and remember that in-class preparations for the festival will start Wednesday."

Atem and Ana immediately started gathering their things, ready to go home for the day. It had been a long Monday, and a fairly dull meeting, so both were eager to leave.

"Mm," Ana groaned, letting out a yawn, "I may be ready for a nap."

Atem grinned. "What, the meeting wasn't riveting enough for you?"

Ana laughed. "Oh, the most enthralling meeting ever," she responded lightly, "I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately, I suppose."

"Is something the matter?" he asked with concern.

She shook her head. "Just some strange dreams, that's all."

He frowned. "They aren't because of what happened Saturday, I hope?"

Ana opened her mouth to respond, when they were suddenly interrupted by a figure popping in between them. "Hi, Atem," she said in a soft voice.

Atem blinked. "Um, hello, Mizuki."

"You remembered my name," Mizuki beamed. "Sorry to interrupt you two, it's just that I realized – Ana, you left so suddenly Friday that I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself to you."

"Oh, uh…" Ana faltered, not really sure what to make of this girl.

"I'm Mizuki Konmei, and I just wanted to let you know – if you have any questions or trouble with this school, I'd be happy to help," the other girl smiled. "I remember being a new student here myself, not too long ago."

"Oh, well, thank you," she replied hesitantly. Something was not sitting right with her. This girl, with her petit, doll-like face, seemed nice enough, Ana supposed, but for some reason she couldn't get a good read on her. And there was something unnerving about the girl's dark, direct gaze.

Mizuki's smile grew wider and she nodded to Ana before turning back to Atem. "So, Atem, you said you studied archaeology and law in Egypt right? I was wondering, would you want to come to the Domino Museum with me today? I heard their historical exhibits are impressive."

Ana was amused to see Atem's slightly panicked expression. "Um, that's, uh, very kind of you to offer, Mizuki, but I, uh," his gaze flicked toward Ana, "actually had plans with Ana today."

"You do?" Mizuki's face fell in disappointment.

 _He does?_ Ana looked at the boy skeptically, but only received a pleading violet gaze in reply. Mizuki turned back to look at her questioningly herself.

"Uh, yes," she finally said, "Atem is going to…help me run some errands today." It was the best she could come up with.

"Oh, that's nice of you," the dark-eyed girl said, resignedly. "I guess I'll see you both tomorrow?"

"Sure," Ana responded, "See you tomorrow, Mizuki."

They managed to leave the classroom inconspicuously after that. "You know, I'm not sure if I'm a fan of being used to get out of dates," Ana joked as they made their way down the stairs. "You're going to put me at odds with other girls at the school."

Atem sighed, "I apologize. I just didn't know what else to say."

"You could have said 'yes'," Ana teased, although for some reason her stomach twinged when she proposed it, and her head started to itch again.

"Er…"

Ana ignored the odd feelings and laughed at his discomfort. "You're not very good with new people, are you?"

"What makes you say that?" he asked, brow cocked.

"Well, apart from what just happened, Sarra told me how strange you acted when you first met her, all silent and spaced out," Ana ticked her fingers, "And then there was the time when _we_ first met, in class." She grinned at him, "For a while there I was worried you didn't like me."

"I liked you just fine when we met," he insisted.

"You didn't say one word to me until lunch."

Atem grimaced. "Alright, maybe I'm not so good with first impressions. This life is still pretty new to me."

"Still adjusting from being back from Egypt?" Ana suggested, though once again, she was struck with that feeling that she was missing something.

"Erm, yes, that." They had reached the lockers by the entrance, and they split temporarily to retrieve their outdoor shoes.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Ana said as they stood by the exits.

Atem smiled and shook his head. "I'll walk you home," he told her.

She blinked in surprise. "That really isn't necessary."

"I'd like to," he said, grinning, "Besides, what if Mizuki happens to see us?"

"I don't want to make you go out of your way," she tried to insist one more time.

"It's not that far out of my way, and I didn't get the opportunity to on Friday. Unless you don't want my company." He pushed the door open and held it for her. "Come, don't worry about it. This is just how I was raised."

She couldn't help but smile as she walked through. "Sounds like you grew up in a pretty old-fashioned household."

He chuckled as he fell into step at her side. "You could say that."

* * *

"So, did you get the opportunity to talk to that professor about the diadem?" Ana asked as they made their way down the streets.

Atem shook his head. "No. Yugi found his number but when we called, only Rebecca was there."

"I remember Joey and Tristan mentioning her last night," she realized, "Who's Rebecca?"

"His granddaughter," he explained, "and a friend of ours."

"Oh, I see…She has a crush on Yugi, doesn't she?" Ana surmised.

Atem laughed in confirmation. It indeed had been a bit difficult to get off the phone last night. They had barely been able to say hello before she had almost squealed their ears off, asking Yugi what he was up to, if he missed her, when he was next coming to visit…

Then she had insisted they switch to video call, and she was so excited that it took her a full five minutes before she had noticed Atem.

"… _Wait what? Am I seeing double? Why are there two Yugi's?" the petit blonde girl exclaimed on the video screen._

" _Oh, right. Uh, Rebecca, I'd like you to meet the Pharaoh," Yugi introduced, "His name is Atem."_

" _He's the spirit from the Millennium Puzzle?"_

" _Yep," Yugi chirped, "Although he's not a spirit anymore. It's a long story, but he's got his own body now."  
_

" _For now," Atem intoned. "Hello, Rebecca. It's nice to see you again."_

 _The girl gave him a hesitant smile. He understood things were still a little awkward between them ever since he had made one of the worst mistakes of his life, leading to Yugi's soul being sealed away by the Orichalcos. "Hi, Pharoah. I mean, uh, Atem. Congratulations on finding out your name."_

 _He gave her a genuine smile in return. "Thank you."_

" _So, what can I do for you boys?" she said, thankfully willing to get back to the reason they had called in the first place._

" _Well, Rebecca," Yugi explained, "we were hoping to talk to Professor Hawkins. Some strange things have been happening here and we were wondering if your grandfather could provide us with some answers."_

" _Sorry, darling," Rebecca said with sincere regret, "but grandpa isn't here right now. He's been away since Friday, for a research trip. He was really excited – something about some new discovery. But I'm not sure when he'll be back."_

" _I see," Atem couldn't help but let out with disappointment._

" _Hey wait," Yugi furrowed his brow, "My grandpa's been gone since Friday, too. He wouldn't tell us why but he was also really excited."_

 _Rebecca frowned. "Urgh, I hope they aren't going on some adventurous excavation again. I told him after what happened last time he needed to take it easy."_

" _Yeah, me too," Yugi sighed._

" _Well, if they're together, wherever they are doesn't get reception. I haven't been able to contact grandpa since he left, but he warned me that might happen," Rebecca went on to say._

 _Atem and Yugi looked at each other, at a loss. Were they just going to have to wait until the two archaeologists returned from their trip?_

" _Yugi, if you don't mind telling me, what did you want to ask my grandpa about?"_

" _Well, like I said, some strange things have been happening here, and some ancient symbols and artifacts are involved. We were hoping Professor Hawkins might know something about them," Yugi told her._

" _Why don't you send me the images, and I can show them to grandpa when he contacts me. He promised to check in at least once a week," the young genius suggested._

" _Okay, Rebecca, thanks! That would be really helpful," he responded._

 _Atem nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Rebecca. We'll send them over later tonight."_

" _You're welcome, you two. I'm happy to help. Anything for my darling! Speaking of, so Yugi, talk to me! What's been going on, when are you coming to visit again? How…"_

 _Atem chuckled and left the room, leaving Yugi alone to field the exuberant girl's questions by himself._

"We sent Rebecca pictures of the tattoo symbol, the diadem, and your Light of the Goddess card," Atem told Ana, "She promised to show them to the professor as soon as she could."

"That's good," Ana responded, "Hopefully we'll get some answers soon. This is all still so crazy to me, but I think now I just want to know what the heck is going on."

Atem laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out. Professor Hawkins will contact Rebecca soon, and remember Ishizu promised to send over the tablets. We'll find our answers, I promise." He smiled confidently.

She smiled back, before her expression took on a teasing quality. "You sure you don't want to visit the museum with Mizuki instead?"

He grimaced and dropped his hand. "Quite sure, thank you."

"It's not too late, you know. I'm certain she'd happily say yes if you changed your mind," she continued to tease.

"What's this?" Atem suddenly said, eager to change the subject. They were passing through an area of the city filled with various restaurants and café's, one of which was having a grand opening, it appeared. "This is new," he observed, stopping in front of the colorful window display.

"Oh, it's a froyo place," Ana remarked. "I guess this is becoming popular in Japan too."

"A…what?" Atem repeated, bewildered.

She grinned. "Frozen yogurt. It's all the rage in America right now – it's like ice cream, but somewhat healthier. And it comes in a lot of interesting flavors."

"Hmm," the former spirit hummed.

"Do you want to try it?" she asked, but opened the door without waiting for an answer, "Come on."

He obediently followed her, and took in the happy, pastel colors of the shop. Ana led him to where a table held stacks of paper bowls, and passed one to him. She also grabbed a few mini-cups, about the size of his thumb.

"So these are all the available flavors," she told him, pointing to a wall lined with ice cream churners. "You serve yourself, and you pay based on the weight of your cup. You can also get toppings," she gestured to a counter full of various fruits, sprinkles, and other crumbles.

Intrigued, he watched as Ana approached one of the dispensers and pulled the lever while holding one of the miniature cups underneath. A dollop of the frozen treat dropped into the sample cup, and she handed it to him. "Try it," she urged.

He tasted it hesitantly. He was still somewhat getting used to experiencing tastes himself, and the flavor palette of this modern era was quite expanded compared to the foods he was used to in his Ancient Egyptian memories. "It's good," he commented with surprise.

Ana smiled. "Right? Here," she handed him the rest of the sample cups she had taken, "Go and try some more. Don't go crazy, though, or they'll get annoyed at us."

He amused himself with trying some of the odder sounding flavors, but eventually settled on a couple more traditional ones. Although he decided to forego toppings, Ana practically piled them on. "You might as well get a separate cup," he teased, causing her to stick out her tongue at him. He smiled at the rather adorable gesture.

They decided to stop at a park bench to eat their treats. The sun was still bright, but the temperature was starting to cool in the early evening, making the light breeze refreshing against their skin. They ate their frozen yogurts in silence for a moment, watching various people pass by, before Ana finally spoke.

"You know, I've been spending a lot of time with you guys over the last week, but I still feel like I don't know much about you." Gray eyes flicked over to him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it's just…you still feel kind of mysterious to me, I guess," Ana gave him a small smile, "Usually I'm pretty good at reading people, but you're always surprising me."

"I'm not sure if I should apologize or not," he said jokingly.

She laughed in response. "Tell me a story, then," she requested, "just about you."

"A story?"

"Like…something from your time in Egypt. Unless you were _so_ into your studies that you didn't have time for anything else," she said the last part somewhat in jest.

He chuckled. "No, that wasn't the case at all. In fact, there was a time when I actively avoided them."

" _Prince? Prince, where are you? Oh, for Ra's sake, not again," the tutor sighed when the lump under the covers on the bed turned out to be a few pillows. He stalked towards the royal chamber's exit. "Guards! You let His Highness sneak out again! Find him! And alert the Pharaoh!"_

" _Yes, sir!"_

 _The doors slammed shut behind him, and eventually the voices faded down the hall as well. The wanted young prince popped out from his hiding spot in one of the large vases and sighed in relief. He crept to the doors and quietly cracked them open. Peeking out, he caught sight of the guards just as they turned the corner and disappeared completely from view. Smiling, he emerged fully from the doorway and turned to run in the opposite direction._

" _Going somewhere, Your Highness?"_

 _Freezing, Atem looked over his shoulder guiltily. "Mahad…"_

" _You know you should be at your lessons," the older boy said, arms crossed._

" _But Mahad –"_

" _You're eight harvests old now, Prince, old enough to take your studies seriously," the current senior apprentice shook his head, deflecting any excuse the prince might have given him._

" _I do take them seriously," Atem tried to insist, "It's just, they are_ too _serious, and Tutor is so dull."_

 _Mahad sighed in exasperation, but his expression turned thoughtful as he gazed at the prince's pleading eyes. "Alright, why don't we go outside, then, Your Highness? Just for today."_

 _Atem's eyes brightened. "Really?"_

 _Mahad nodded, a small smile growing on his face. "Follow me."_

 _The city outside the palace was bustling with life and activity. The market was full of merchants and traders, looking to make profitable transactions. Others were clearly shopping for supplies, seeking the best bargains. There were plenty of children about as well, weaving in and out of the legs of the taller adults, laughing without a care in the world._

 _Atem took all this in eagerly. He didn't often get to leave the confines of the palace, and even then, only with a full armed escort, and usually his father. Everyone would stop what they were doing and line the streets, eager to catch a glimpse of their pharaoh and his heir. This time, it was just him and Mahad, and with a wrap covering his distinctive hair, no one gave them a second glance._

 _He ran to various stands, fascinated by the wide variety of goods offered. Some of the merchants would note his interest, and tell him fantastical stories of where the items came from, no doubt trying to incite a sale. At one of the food stands, a kind, older woman had been taken by his wide, enthralled eyes, and gave him a sweet cake of dates and honey. His adventures all happened, though, under the watchful eye of his apprentice magician escort._

 _At one point, Atem noticed that a crowd had gathered around a fountain, one of the terminals of Egypt's substantial irrigation system providing drinking water to the city's inhabitants. He approached curiously, and used his small size to weave his way to the front of the crowd. To his delight, a performance was taking place in front of him, but it was no dancing troupe. A group of normal civilians, it looked like, had started playing music together, while some of the women and children danced and sang. They sung to the gods Osiris and Hapi, praying for good harvest, and for the Nile to bless them with its riches once more. Atem realized this must be for the upcoming annual flood – the inundation._

" _Does this happen often?" Atem quietly asked Mahad, who had joined him in the crowd._

 _Mahad nodded. "More frequently as the flood approaches, of course, but also often without even any true purpose. Music and dance provides a pleasant break from the work day."_

 _Atem continued to watch, a happy smile growing on his face. He had of course seen many of the grander festivals held in the gods' honor, but for some reason, he liked this more. It felt more intimate, and free. The joy and laughter was infectious, and soon Atem was clapping along with everyone else._

 _When the song ended, everyone cheered in celebration. "Praise to the gods! Praise to Ra! Praise to Osiris!"_

 _To Atem's surprise, soon the chants changed focus. "Praise to our Pharaoh, our God on Earth, protector of our peace! And praise to his heir, our prince! Glory to the future of Egypt!"_

 _Mahad gazed at his charge carefully while the cheering eventually died down and people slowly started dispersing. The prince's eyes were hooded by his head covering, and for a long moment he didn't move. Finally, young violet orbs looked up to him once more, and a smile bloomed on the future Pharaoh's face._

" _Mahad, I'm ready to go back to my lessons now."_

"That was when I fell in love with Egypt's culture, and its people," Atem said, after finishing his slightly edited version of that memory. Their frozen treats were long gone, but they were still seated on the bench, enjoying the weather and the scenery.

"So that's why you wanted to go back and study there?"

Atem nodded (he had framed the story as an educational trip his grandfather had taken him on when he was younger).

Ana smiled. "That was a nice story, thank you for telling me." She leaned back against the bench, gazing upward at the clear blue sky. Atem watched as the breeze playfully lifted her dark hair around her face. He fought the sudden urge to play with the long strands. "It's funny, I've been all over the world, but I don't think I've ever felt a connection like that to any of the places I've lived in. Well, maybe except…"

"Except?" he prompted.

She turned her gaze back at him, her grey eyes shy. "Would it be weird if I said here? I've mentioned before that for a long time, it used to be just me and Sarra. We never really made close friends anywhere before. But here, with you, and Joey and Yugi and everyone else…I'm already starting to feel like I belong."

He covered one of her hands resting on the bench with his, and smiled sincerely. "It isn't strange at all."

Her answering smile was brilliant, and she nodded gratefully. They held each other's gaze for a long moment, both lost in the sincerity and depth in the other's eyes, before the connection was finally broken by a passing bird call.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Atem withdrew his hand and stood up, brushing himself off. He grabbed both of their empty cups and tossed them into a nearby trash can. Turning back to Ana, he extended a hand to her. "I believe I promised to walk you home."

She smiled again, and took it.

* * *

" _With this, we'll always be connected." Strong arms wrapped around her waist again, and she sank back into the comforting solid form behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder at Atem, who was smiling warmly at her. She reached out to touch his cheek, but once more, his image shattered before she could. She cried out in grief and fell to her knees._

 _The ground underneath her opened to swallow her whole, but instead of dropping into the Shadows, she fell through what felt like reality itself._

 _When she landed, she was in a large entranceway built of sand stone. Giant statues of what looked like ancient Egyptian figures guarded the heavy doors, and the walls themselves were carved with more hieroglyphs. She stood just inside, arms crossed and foot tapping._

 _The palace doors finally opened, revealing a young boy with distinctive hair, escorted by a taller teen._

" _And where exactly have you two been?" she scolded, hands moving to her hips._

 _The young prince looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, Ana. I just needed a reprieve from my lessons."_

 _She glared at him. "Without telling anyone? And you, Mahad! I cannot believe you encouraged this!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the magician-in-training, who flinched._

" _I did not, I mean, I – " he stammered._

 _Atem quickly grabbed Ana's outstretched hand, squeezing it conciliatorily. "Ana, I apologize for worrying you," he said, his violet eyes turning wide and earnest. She sighed, feeling her ire already beginning to melt. She hated that look. He smiled as soon as he saw that he was breaking her. "And next time, I promise we'll take you with us!"_

 _In the corner of her eye, she saw Mahad slap a hand over his eyes. Assuaged, she finally returned her friend's smile. "Alright. Well, then, tell me everything! What did you see?"_

" _It was amazing, Ana! There was a small dance for the upcoming inundation, and…"_

Ana shot up from her bed. She immediately slumped over, cradling her throbbing head in her hands. Blindly, she stretched one hand out, searching for the glass of water she had kept on her nightstand, only to knock it over, sending it crashing onto the floor.

The sound of breaking glass called Sarra into her room. "Ana? Are you alright?" her sister asked worriedly, rushing over to the bed.

"I'm fine, Sarra," she panted, "But could you bring me some water and that aspirin you bought for me this weekend?"

"Of course." Sarra immediately ran out to get the requested items, while Ana continued to massage her temples, willing the pain to subside.

It wasn't long before Sarra returned and handed Ana the medicine and the glass. "Another headache?" she asked with concern, "Is everything alright? You don't usually get headaches. In fact, I think you've gotten more in the past few days than you have in five years."

Ana tossed down the pills and drank greedily from the water. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to focus on calming her body. In addition to her throbbing temples, she felt as if a strange energy was thrumming beneath her skin, making her heart pound and her lungs work to get enough oxygen. As she forced her breathing to slow, the strange feeling slowly dissipated, until all that was left was some lingering pain in her head.

She felt a hand touch her forehead, causing her to open her eyes to find her sister hovering over her, face filled with worry. "You don't have a fever…" Sarra mused.

Ana gently pushed her hand away. "I'm fine, Sarra. Really. I just had a weird dream, that's all."

"A dream?" Sarra quirked a brow skeptically. "I've never heard of anyone having such a physical reaction to a _dream_ before. What exactly did you dream about?"

Ana frowned. This time… "I don't remember," she confessed truthfully.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Joey asked as they strolled through the shopping center, hands casually tucked behind his head.

Ana checked the list in her hand. "We were put in charge of materials for costumes, so anything that can make us look Ancient Egyptian-y?"

"Great, alright…so what exactly are we looking for again?"

Ana shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out, somehow," Yugi said from her other side. The three of them had been tasked with buying some supplies for their class's festival activity, while the rest of their classmates started working on signs and other props.

"Well, the way I see it, if we're lookin' for costumes, why don't we go to a costume store?" the blonde proposed.

"We don't have the budget to just buy pre-made costumes for everyone, Joey," Ana told him.

"But it might be a good idea to start there for inspiration," Yugi mused. "Let's give it a shot."

With that, the trio began to make their way to the closest costume store. Since it was the middle of the day, the streets were fairly empty and quiet, with only a few people here and there milling in and out of shops.

"So, Joey, were you able to talk to your mom about Serenity coming to visit the school for the festival?" Yugi asked his friend.

"Yeah! In fact…Mom said she might visit too," he replied, a little hesitantly.

"That's great, Joey!" Yugi said happily, "I'm glad you and your Mom seem to be developing a relationship again."

"You have a sister, Joey? And your parents are divorced?" Ana surmised.

"Yeah, Serenity lives with my mom, and I live with dad," Joey told her.

"Even though they don't live together, though, Joey is a very devoted big brother," Yugi boasted, "He competed in the Duelist Kingdom tournament just so that he could pay for the surgery that saved Serenity's vision."

"Wow," Ana smiled, "Sounds like she's lucky to have you."

"Heheh…" he rubbed his nose embarrassedly.

"I have to admit I'm a little envious," she remarked, linking her hands together behind her back as they continued down the streets, "Of both of you, really."

"Envious?" Joey said in surprise.

"But you have Sarra," Yugi pointed out.

"And I love her. I wouldn't trade her for anyone or anything," Ana clarified, "But, you know, sometimes, I've wondered what it would be like to have a big brother."

Joey and Yugi traded uncomprehending glances, which Ana did not fail to notice. She smiled wryly. "What I mean is…well, I see how protective Atem is of you, Yugi," she nodded toward the shorter boy, "and proud. I know you two are technically twins, but you have to admit he acts like an older brother a lot."

"There's some definite truth to that, especially the 'older' part," Joey chuckled, causing Yugi to elbow him gently in the arm.

"And you, Joey, well, I always thought you'd make a great older brother, and turns out I was right," she grinned. "I just think it would be nice, you know, to have someone who takes it upon himself to protect you, keep you safe. Although, knowing me," she laughed sheepishly, "I'd probably just get annoyed at him for being _over_ protective."

Joey was looking at her like he didn't really know what to say, but luckily he was saved from responding with their arrival at the store.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" Ana said, pushing the door open.

The shop was, as expected, filled with racks upon racks of costumes, ranging from more traditional Halloween-esque costumes to outfits probably more geared toward cosplay. The room itself was dimly lit through some sort of colored filter, giving the whole store a mysterious aura. There was a chime as the door swung open, alerting the store workers to their presence.

"May I help you?" one came up to them to ask.

Ana felt a little bad about getting assistance when they weren't here to buy anything, but she knew it would take forever for them to search through all the costumes themselves. "Uh, we were looking for some Ancient Egyptian costumes," she told the female worker, who was dressed up herself as some anime character.

The employee smiled. "Alright, follow me," she said pleasantly.

The high school students obediently followed her further into the store. She showed them a section of the rack that boasted several different types of tunics and flashy accessories. "Here we are. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Uh, no, but thank you so much," Ana told her. The store worker smiled cheerfully and let them be.

"So…now what," Joey intoned.

"I guess we figure out what we need to replicate them?" Yugi said, pulling out one of the costumes. "Although, I don't know… do these seem a little flashy to you, Joey?" The bright robe was completely studded with fake jewels.

"Yeah I guess," Joey responded, scratching his head, "Most of the townspeople were shirtless though, although the Pha—" Yugi suddenly leapt at this friend to cover his mouth with a hand, taking Ana aback.

" _Joey_ ," Yugi hissed, quickly releasing him.

"Oh, oops." Both boys looked nervously over at Ana.

"Uh, are you two okay?" she asked them perplexedly.

"Y-yeah! I mean, that is, uh," Yugi stammered for a second before composing himself, "from what Atem's told me from his studies, all of this is pretty flashy for Egyptian costumes."

Ana looked at both of them suspiciously for a moment, before shrugging and letting it go. "I agree. Most clothes back then would have been undyed, and only the wealthy would have been able to afford this many jewels and gold."

"Maybe we can just buy a lot of plain-colored fabric and sew them into costumes," Yugi mused. "But what about accessories? We should have some. Gold was the most common, but we definitely don't have the budget for that."

Ana tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We could probably get some cheap plastic accessories and cover them in gold spray paint."

"Sounds like a plan to me. What are we still doing in this popsicle stand then?" Joey deadpanned. "Let's go, my eyes hurt from all them weird lights."

They turned to make their way out of the store, when suddenly a figured jumped out from behind one of the racks, making all three of them jump.

"Customers, could I help you with something?" it was another store employee. At least, Ana assumed it was an employee. This person's costume, though, was simply a long, dark, hooded cloak, with a dark broach clasping it together. Ana could barely see his face under the hood, especially in this lighting.

"Uh, sorry," she said hesitantly, "I think we're looking for something else. Thank you for your help, though."

"Are you looking for fabrics or materials? We sell those, as well," the man said, his voice soft.

"Really?" Ana responded with interest.

"Yes, in another room, in the back," he told them.

Ana looked questioningly over her shoulder at her companions, who shrugged in response. "It could save us a trip," Yugi pointed out.

"Alright, then," Ana agreed, turning back to the man, "Lead the way."

He led them to the back of the store, where a door stood in the corner. The employee opened it for them and entered. It was pitch black on the other side, though, and Ana, Yugi, and Joey all stopped just before the door.

"Uh…is it just me, or does this seem really creepy?" Joey said, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Well…" Yugi responded hesitantly, evidently also feeling like something was off.

Ana shook her head. "Come on guys, it's just a store." With that she resolutely stepped through into the other room. As soon as she passed through the doorway, however, a chill crawled over her skin and the quality of air changed. "Mister?" she called, "Do you think we can turn on the lights?"

The only response she got, though, was the door slamming shut behind her, sending her into complete darkness. She whipped around in surprise, and immediately tried the door handle to no avail – it was locked.

"…Well, crap."

* * *

"Ana!" Yugi and Joey immediately cried out when the door slammed shut before they could walk through with her.

"What the hell is going on?" Joey shouted, grabbing the door knob and twisting futilely. His shouting caught the attention of the store workers, who came rushing over.

"Sir, that's an employee's only room! You can't go in there!" one of them exclaimed.

"Employee's only, my ass!" he retorted, "One of your creep-o coworkers just locked our friend in there!"

"That's not possible," the employee frowned, "Everyone on shift today is right here."

Yugi's eyes widened, a sense of dread flooding through him. "Could it have been a customer?" he posed to the female worker.

She shook her head. "You all are the only ones who've entered the shop in a while," she said, making the bad feeling in Yugi's stomach grow worse.

"Never mind who it was," Joey interjected, still trying to get the door knob to turn, "Someone give me the key! We gotta get Ana out of there!"

One of the employees came up, pulling a key ring from her pocket. However, when she tried to insert the key into the lock, it inexplicably snapped.

"That isn't good," the blonde grunted. "Well, if we can't unlock it…" He backed up, dropped his shoulder, and charged at the door, clearly trying to break it down. However, when he made contact, he bounced uselessly off, with only a bruise to show for his efforts. "Dammit!" he cursed, backing up to try again.

Yugi turned back to the store workers. "Is there another way into that room?" he demanded.

The girls were starting to look nervous, clearly not understanding what was going on. "There's an entrance from the back alley, but we hardly ever use it – I don't know where the key is…"

"Well, let's find it!"

* * *

Ana continued to try to open the door for another minute, before eventually giving up. "Alright, Ana, stay calm," she muttered to herself, before sighing. "Why exactly did following a creepy guy into a creepy room seem like a good idea again?" Not one of her finer moments.

 _Speaking of that creepy guy…_ "Hey, whoever you are!" she shouted into the blackness, "I know you're in here, let me out!" Predictably, there was no response.

"What do you want from me?" she tried again, turning her head this way and that, trying to find the stranger. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and she started being able to make out outlines of the furniture in the room. It looked like a break room, definitely not another retail area, but something was blacking out the windows. She felt along the wall for a light switch. Finding it, she flicked it on, but the room remained in darkness.

Suddenly, an eerie laugh echoed around her, causing her to immediately whip around and drop into a defensive stance. "Show yourself, bastard!" she growled.

The quality of the darkness around her changed, and a new, dreadful feeling washed over her. The faint silhouettes of the room disappeared as what seemed like a dark storm surrounded her. "Not this again," she groaned. The Shadows.

A figure abruptly materialized in front of her, making her take a step back. Oddly, even though there was still no light, she could see the man perfectly. It wasn't the same person, she realized, as the one that had lured her in here. This man was taller, with broader shoulders. Narrow eyes were set into a dark-skinned face, and wild dark hair framed high cheek bones and a prominent nose. An odd tattoo wrapped around one of his eyes, and his lips were turned up in a menacing smirk. He wore his own set of strange, dark robes, and around his neck was some sort of black jewel. All of this formed a sinister picture, but what really made Ana's skin crawl was the wild, almost mad look in his striking jade eyes.

"Please forgive my…deceitful tactics, Lady Ana," he drawled, making the hair on her arms stand on end, "but I had to come see for myself."

"What are you, some kind of pervert? And how the hell do you know my name?" she snapped, taking another step back and keeping her hands raised defensively in front of her.

"My name is Khai," he said in way of reply.

"Why would I care what your name is?" she scowled. "Let me out of here before I kick your ass."

He ignored her. "We have been waiting a long time for _that card_ to appear, but who would have thought that when it did, it would be in _your_ hands," he mused, his voice still sinisterly soft.

 _That card? Does he mean the Light of the Goddess?_ Ana thought to herself, the wheels in her head turning. _He must be a part of the group, whatever it is, that's after it._

"I'm not handing it over to you," she spat at him, defensively putting a hand over the card pouch she had taken to wearing after the last attempted theft.

"Eventually, you will," he promised, "but luckily for you, that's not why I'm here."

"Then why _are_ you here?" she demanded.

"I told you," Khai reminded her, "I wanted to see you for myself. Verify who you are." He reached out and stroked a finger along her jaw, causing her to shiver in disgust. She slapped his hand away.

"Stay the hell away from me, you creep," she growled, sinking lower into her stance, like a snake coiling itself, ready to strike.

He started to chuckle, when something appeared to grab his attention behind him. "It looks like our time has unfortunately been cut short. It was lovely to meet you, Lady Ana," he gave her a mocking bow, "I'm certain we'll see each other again, sooner than you might think. I would keep a close eye on those around you, if I were you. Do you really know who to trust?"

With that, he vanished, and the Shadows around her dissipated, revealing the shop's break room once more, now completely lit by an overhead light.

She dropped her hands, heart still pumping with adrenaline, as a door on the other side of the room burst open. Yugi and Joey ran in, expressions filled with worry. "Ana! Are you alright?" Yugi asked.

"Where is he? Where's the creepy bastard? I'll kick his ass," Joey growled, turning round and round, fists held up threateningly.

"He's gone, Joey," Ana shook her head, resting a hand on his shoulder to stop his frantic searching.

"How?" Yugi asked, "You guys were trapped in here."

"Same way that guy who dropped the diadem disappeared, I would guess," she responded, frowning.

"So it _was_ them," the King of Games breathed, his brow furrowing, "What did they want?"

 _"Do you really know who to trust?"_

"…I don't know."

* * *

 **A/N** : Whew, okay. Writing this chapter was like pulling teeth, I tell you. But I hope you still enjoyed it.

I think it's a good time to make the disclaimer now that I am no way an expert on Egyptian culture, ancient or otherwise. Part of what made this chapter so difficult to write was me trying to google a bunch of things. So if you are someone who's more well-versed in Egyptian culture, and see a glaring error in my story, please let me know. I mean, not to say the manga/anime is that accurate in the first place, but I'm doing my best here.

Speaking of, so I've been reading the actual manga for the first time! I've been enjoying it. I might be trying to incorporate things that were in the manga, but not the anime, in this story, just warning you.

Again, hope you liked the chapter! Please leave a review with your thoughts, they feed my muse!


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